"Would make us wise…"
I would actually have liked to have this chapter out earlier and supposedly connected to 24... Cookies, treacle tarts and various other sweets to someone who can tell me who wrote the poem I will be using for the next few chapter tittles... Fair warning though... Not even I know who wrote the darn beautiful thing...! Bye and don't forget to read and review!
'Lucius is panicking…' Severus thought, scrutinizing the other man while watching the puppy that had finally stopped wailing out of the corner of his eye. Of course, everyone knew very well that if Draco hadn't been the only Malfoy heir Lucius would ever have, due to numerous injuries sustained several years ago because of his 'work', Lucius wouldn't have given a damn if his own son was mauled or not.
'It looks like I have no choice… with any luck, Moony will listen to me,' he thought, centering his magic. Then he… 'shifted'.
Draco and Lucius watched in shock as Severus' body morphed into a tall and sleek black wolf. Both felt betrayed by the revelation that the Potions Master was actually an illegal Animagus… and each for their own reasons. Draco because he'd known the man since he was born… hell, the pale snarky man was his GODFATHER for Merlin's sake!
And Lucius?
The blond man had taken a pale and crying kid under his wing during the brat's first year at Hogwarts when the man himself had only been in his second. And the elder Malfoy had never even so much as SUSPECTED that Severus was an illegal Animagus, although it would make sense for him to keep that information to himself. The man DID make a rather good spy for the light… for Dumbledore, manipulative old fool that he was. As did Lucius, though not many knew of his defection to the cause of the light and his loyalty to Hogwarts' current Headmaster.
The large black wolf that had been the tall and dark Potions Master only seconds ago stepped in between Draco and the usually calm and easy-going ex-professor Lupin AKA Moony the werewolf of the Marauders.
/Darkness/ Moony whined, confused, as he straightened from his crouching position. The black wolf growled back and turned to face his mate straight on.
/It's alright now, Moony… It's safe. No one's going to hurt us…/ Darkness barked to the grey wolf. It laid its ears back and glanced back at the quiet puppy before turning to snap/But Shadow-/
/Is fine… he's safe. He just panicked… Moony, he's gone back at LEAST as far as he was a week ago… He's just scared, mate…/ Darkness crooned, stepping closer. The grey wolf that was the usually placid and even-tempered Remus John Lupin whined in its confusion.
/But Shadow was so scared… Our pup shouldn't be afraid of anything, Darkness. I will rip these men to shreds for doing that to him/ Moony growled, snarling and advancing towards where Draco and Lucius were.
Darkness had had enough. He stood in his mate's way and faced him head on.
/Enough! Draco and Lucius are not the one's you should be taking your anger out on! You know this Moony…/
Moony growled low in his throat and looked back at his pup. /I am going to kill those Muggles…/ He turned away from the wolf and the two blond men to make his way back to the oddly silent wolf cub.
Moony nudged the small puppy with his nose, tilting his head to the side when there was no reaction. He nudged him again and still got no response. The grey wolf yelped loudly in panic and kept nudging the pup. He started to wail loudly when there was still no response.
/Darkness/ He wailed. /Help Shadow! He's not moving… Our cub's not moving/
The black wolf rushed to his mate's side and sniffed the cub. Finding nothing wrong, he turned the unresponsive pup onto his back and started licking him until he wailed weakly, flailing his legs around wildly.
Moony yipped with joy and shoved his mate out of the way to examine the cub himself. Shadow, the black puppy, wailed as the grey wolf nipped him lightly to chastise him for the scare.
Darkness, not minding being ousted in the least, nuzzled his mate and the cub before turning back to the two blonds against the wall.
Draco watched as the wolf morphed back into the familiar shape of his godfather. The black haired man drew his wand, pointed it at Draco's father and muttered a spell under his breath.
'Did Uncle Severus… just… just OBLIVIATE Father!' He thought, eyes wide as his godfather pressed a sheet of parchment into the elder Malfoy's hand. Lucius winked out of existence as if he'd never been there at all.
'Hopefully, Lucius will stay put in the Manor until I can send him an owl later to notify him of Draco's usual stay with me during the summer,' Severus thought, tucking his wand back into his sleeve and turning to the young man in question. 'Though this visit is shorter… it will most likely be one of the more difficult one's in recent memory…'
"Come Draco… I will endeavor to explain to you what just took place."
Draco followed as he was lead to where Moony had curled around Shadow, hiding him from view. He stopped a few feet away, loath to get to close to an… well, an animal that had seemed to want to kill him earlier. But Severus gestured him closer and took a seat on the floor next to the curled up wolf.
And Draco was hearing the most interesting noises coming from them. He crept closer and cautiously looked at the wolf at least twice the size it should be.
Draco got the shock of his life… the wolf, which looked like a male to him then again, what did he know, was nuzzling the tiny black puppy who was NURSING from the large grey wolf.
He turned to Severus in surprised question.
"This is Lupin… as you know, or should know," the man said, nodding his head at the wolves. "Wolves are territorial beings. Possessive of their pack and den… Werewolves are much the same… You already know that Remus is my mate. What you don't know, Draco, is that that tiny wolf cub nursing from him is our pup…"
The blond looked at the pup again, curious, and noticed that Lupin was staring straight at him. He gulped in fear at the clear warning in those bright amber eyes and turned back to Severus who nodded at the wolf.
Draco watched as it stood, dislodging the pup from his nipple and making it whine in protest. Moony stretched and then turned back to Shadow, who was still wailing and trying to stand on unsteady legs to try and get his food back. Moony gently bit the scruff of his neck and handed him to Severus carefully before morphing back into his normal self… back into Remus Lupin.
Severus stroked the cub's soft fur a few times before turning it towards his godson, showing him the faint white marking on the pup's forehead.
It was a small patch of white fur on an otherwise pure black coat and was blurry… but the shape of it was unmistakable.
A lightning bolt… straight down the tiny forehead.
Draco felt like fainting but regained control of himself. 'Dear Merlin…' he thought, staring at the puppy who was relaxed in Severus' arms.
"Harry Potter…" he breathed.
Remus nodded. "Harry… I had to give him some of my blood to save him after what those MUGGLES did to him. It didn't turn him into a werewolf but DID give him all of my abilities without the curse of forced change during the full moon. You know all about my being able to change into my wolf form a will right?" he asked, continuing when Draco nodded.
"Well, basically Harry is traumatized and can't go out into the open without severe mental preparation. He's fine but whenever something happens that he doesn't expect, he shifts back into his puppy form automatically. He can't help it… His instincts take control of him and he's stuck as a puppy for a while."
"That doesn't explain why he was…"
"Nursing? When I gave him my blood, I sort of made myself his parent. Severus, being my mate, became his other parent. We still don't know how, but basically my body adjusted so that it could feed Harry whenever he became a puppy."
"And you attacked me because you thought I was a threat to him earlier…" Draco said, finally grasping what had been going on. That didn't mean that everything was crystal clear though… He turned to his silent godfather who was staring intently at him, the pup sleeping soundly on his lap. "What does all this have to do with father?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the pale man who, unknown to him, was trying to think of a way to make the explanation easier on his godson. "And why did you obliviate him? Was that really necessary?"
"Draco… the truth is-" Severus began to say but Remus growled and cut him off, starting to pace the small dark room.
"The TRUTH is that your father," he spat the word out like it was a curse and clenched his hands into fists, "is a bloody spy."
Draco reared back in surprise. 'Merlin, they keep this up and I am most certainly going to die an early and tragic death!' he thought, his eyes widening in disbelief. He shook his head in denial and whispered, "No… No, it's not true… Not Father. It's impossible… Father is HIS favorite… he's at the TOP! There's just NO WAY that that's the truth!"
Remus growled and swooped down towards Draco to grab him by the shoulders and start shaking him roughly.
"Yes! YES! Do you understand me! It's the bloody TRUTH!" he snapped, still shaking the already-shaken boy.
"REMUS!" Severus snarled, making Remus freeze in mid-shake. Draco's head lolled forward and he shook his head slightly. Remus turned to his mate, confused.
"LOOK at him, Remus. Actually LOOK! You're hurting the boy!" Remus looked and released the blond's shoulders in shock and guilt.
"Oh gods, Draco…" he breathed. "I'm so sorry… I didn't- I mean, I won't- Oh God!" he groaned, scooting back and hiding his head in his arms.
"S'alright, Lupin…" Draco mumbled, lifting his head and reaching out to touch the werewolf on the arm. Remus looked up and looked the blond straight in the eyes. Draco offered the other man a small smile. He smiled back slightly.
"Sorry Draco… That probably wasn't the best way to tell you that…" Remus whispered, glaring at his mate when Severus snorted.
"Your father is a spy Draco… I had no other choice but to delete information from his mind. I couldn't let Dumbledore know what Remus and I had done to his precious 'Golden Boy'… Harry has finally realized that he was being used as a pawn by that manipulative old coot. He won't let himself be controlled now…" Severus said quietly.
"Are you trying to tell me that Gryffindor's Poster Boy has finally given up on that barmy codger?" Draco asked. He continued when Severus nodded. "So, what's he going to do now? Join the Dark Lord?" he joked only to cough when the Potions Master nodded again.
Draco pounded his chest as he coughed violently. Remus crawled over to him and rubbed his back gently until the coughing subsided.
"You… You CAN'T be SERIOUS!" he exclaimed.
'Severus? Sirius? He'd kill himself first!' Remus thought snickering and Severus smacked him upside on his head, making the other man stop.
"And here I was thinking that being a Slytherin has helped the boy learn control… over his large mouth at least!" Severus muttered, petting the small body resting in his lap. The puppy stirred, turned over… and went back to sleep.