Warning change from canon:You may notice a deviation from canon history in this chapter. Instead of Sirius luring Severus towards Wolf!Remus and James saving him, it is the other way around. James played the prank and Sirius saved Severus. I changed it, because I need Severus and Sirius to be able to interact somewhat civilly in the future and I don´t think it would be possible with their history as in canon.

About Veela: Yes, I do know that Veela ARE lighthaired according to canon, but not in my world. Nhuh! sticks out tongue

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

´thoughts´

"talking English"

°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°

House-elf language, also called Gaëla

# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #

/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/

§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §

Written language

LAST CHAPTER

With that she stood and gazed down calmly at the unconscious teen. "I can do no more for her. I suggest you let her spend some time with her Werepack." Her nose crinkled almost unnoticeably in disgust. "A free night under the full moon will go a long way for her healing. After the establishment of this defense you can start reorganising her mind." Dame le Feu stroked Jenna´s dark hair softly. "Good luck, Child. I am proud of you." After that she strode out of the room regally, choosing to ignore smug sounding victory-squeaks emitted by the little wuppy who had just driven off a threat to his Mistress.

"I have a wolf-spirit in my mind."

A nod in answer.

"The bite didn´t just give me instincts, but also a mental wolf."

A roll of the eyes. Another nod of confirmation.

"And I need to learn how to get this phantom wolf to guard my mind."

A sigh of aggravation and a curt, annoyed nod.

"And then I´ll always have a wolf-ghost in my head."

Severus shook his head at the display. Jenna had been trying to accept the information given by the Veela Dame for over twenty minutes. It was becoming quite irritating to listen to the same statement over and over again.

"I have a mental wolf in my brain."

Finally at his breaking point, Master cut in with his biting voice. "Yes, I do believe we explained it to you very clearly. There is no need for you to inform us of this again and again." He waited for a second to see how his Apprentice would respond. No reaction.

Jenna stared at a concerned and squeaking Izzy without really noticing anything around her, lost as she was in thought. She wasn´t sure how to react. First her brains were scrambled by an attack from a newly resurrected Dark Lord, then a Veela Dame picked apart every little memory in her mind and in the end she finds another being living in her mind?

It wasn´t that she didn´t like wolves. On the contrary, she loved being with her pack on the nights of the full moon and play with the animalistic versions of her packmembers. They never tried to hurt her. Even though she wasn´t a wolf on the full moon, she had the bite and smell of pack and she was accepted.

But this…this was something very different. Werewolves didn´t gain a whole new entity inside them. With a normal bite, animalistic urges were transferred into a human and on the full moon they were unleashed in a true wolf-form. Pack-members didn´t have a wolf, they were the wolf as much as they were human. The wolf was a part of their very personality. Loners tried to deny it, and lost their connection to a part of themselves, which often resulted in very violent transformations.

This mental wolf …As of yet he could only come out when she herself wasn´t in control. He was a being with a mind of its own who just happened to be in the same body as her. Oh, yeah, that was also a kicker. ´He´ was his own person. She had a bloody male wolf inside her head. Jenna wasn´t sure how, but she knew it was true. And now she would have to invite him to guard her inner-most thoughts. A boy!

It was strange to feel insulted at a comment she had thought herself, but Jenna could feel a faint sense of indignition at her thinking of the wolf as a boy. He was a fullgrown WOLF! Not some puny human child.

Jenna´s eyes shot open in an attempt to ignore the rumbling feelings invading her mind. Her words were precise and slow, almost like an explanation to a small child. Or maybe to a shellshocked teen who was trying to come to terms with what she had only just realized the true consequenses of. "I..have a wolf…in..my…head."

She didn´t even register Master throwing his hands in the air aggravatedly in a uncharacteristic display of emotion, before he stalked off. He had better things to do than try to get through to his Apprentice.

George nodded sympathetically. "Yes you do love."

Jenna nodded back, now uncomfortably aware of the very faint growls and howls resonating in her head. "I have a wolf… in my head."

Fred looked at his girlfriend and sighed. This was going to take a while.

000000000000000000000000000000000

Severus nodded at his collegue in thanks and withdrew his head from the floo connection. No matter how thankful he was that the werewolves had played such a large role in taking care of his Apprentice, he couldn´t help but be uncomfortable with them. Ever since the prank in fifth year where Potter had almost killed him by sending him to a transformed werewolf, Severus had been afraid of the creatures. If Black hadn´t stepped in, Severus would have been dogmeat.

He had reluctantly accepted the creatures as a part of his Apprentice´s life, but he would not spend any more time around them than necessary. Luckily Grahm saw no problem in escorting his ´cub´ to the Southern Pack himself. He had even agreed to let the twins come along to meet some more of Jenna´s family. And the best part: Severus could stay in his own house.

The corner of his lips turned in an almost smile of relief.

Turning around briskly, Severus left to inform the teens the news.

000000000000000000000000000000000

The actual travelling didn´t take long, but the preparations were another story.

"Boots. I need my black boots. Where are my black boots? I need.." She pushed Fred out of the way in her rush to find the shoes from her wardrobe. It was a good thing she had built up an elaborate wardrobe during her multiple stays at Snape Manor. The Potter House-elves weren´t allowed to take anything from Potter Castle without the Master´s explicit permission and Jenna had no desire to go back there herself just to pack some clothes. With her luck, James would catch her within seconds.

Fred exchanged pained looks with his brother. Following the revelation of the wolf spirit, Jenna had just shut down. She didn´t react to anything, instead staring at the wall blankly. Fred had a good idea why she was this affected though. Despite the many dominant figures ruling her life, Jenna was independant. She would submit to the leaders of her races, she would agree to learn, but it was all in an effort to improve her selfreliance. But this…

This wolf was a completely new entity. A stranger, to whom she would have to entrust the very important task of guarding her mind, her inner sanctuary. She would not be able to build up her own Occlumency shields if she accepted the wolf. He would have to take care of the mental defense for the rest of her life. How could she give so much control out of her hands? It was enough to terrify anyone.

When the Potions Master had come back and announced the impending trip to the Southern Pack, it was as if Jenna was suddenly jolted into action. The fear of not being able to trust her own mind had sent her into a desperate frenzy to remember all she could. She had started running around frantically, to make sure she wouldn´t forget to pack anything. It had been two hours since she started and she was showing no signs of slowing down soon.

That was why Fred was so surprised when she suddenly froze and remained in the same position.

Walking towards her warily, unsure what to expect, Fred reached out and stroked his girl´s cheek. "Kitten?"

Jenna turned to face her boyfriend and choked on a sob at the concern and love swirling around in his blue orbs. Another sob was ripped from her and she launched herself at him, needing to feel the security of his arms around her.

"I can´t..I´m going to forget something, Fred."

Fred tightened his arms around her shaking body. "It is okay, kitten. If you forget something, we´ll ask the House-elves to bring it. Shhhh, calm down kitty."

Jenna hiccoughed. "But-but I almost forgot Izzyyyyyyyyyy!" The name of the little animal came out in a wail as she started to sob in earnest.

"Shhhhh, you won´t forget him to bring him. He wouldn´t stand for it! You´ll be okay and we´ll be there all the way, won´t we George?"

George nodded his agreement. He didn´t know what to do to make it better and he hated it. He would do anything to make his princess smile again. In a burst of inspiration he knelt down and picked up the little animal who had tried to keep up with his Mistress´ wild dash through the house. His lips quirked at the indignant squeak which turned into a grateful one when he planted the furrball on Jenna´s shoulder. "See, he´s right here. And so are we."

Jenna nodded. She was being stupid, she knew it. But it was so damn hard to keep balanced right now. Her memories were scrambled, her thoughts weren´t private and she was just plain exhausted. She gave a teary smile and opened her mouth to answer. She wasn´t prepared for the growl that interrupted her.

#Cub.#

Fred and George whirled around, surprised at the sound and wary. Their stiff staunces relaxed as they recognised the man in the doorway. Izzy stayed wary a moment longer, trying to determine if this was an enemy. Finally, with a happy squeak he settled again, satisfied his Mistress was safe in the company of this feral predator.

Automatically Jenna relaxed her stance and bared her teeth, growling out. #Alpha!# She raised her gaze to him slowly, respectfully. #It is good to see you.#

Alpha Grahm looked over his cub and shook his head disapprovingly. #You do not fare well, cub. Yes, it is time to go to the pack. Follow me. We leave in two minutes.#

Jenna started. #But I´m not done and I..#

The slap to her cheek was swift and not unexpected. Alpha´s eyes glowed gold. #Right now I do not want to hear any objections, cub. You can not look after yourself, so I will.#

Slumping Jenna nodded. #Yes, Alpha.# It was in some ways a relief to follow his clear orders. No worrying about her mental problems, just going through the motions of obeing Alpha. Bit by bit the tension from her body bled away.

Fred and George exchanged uneasy glances at the act of violence, but didn´t interfere. Jenna had warned them never to come between an Alpha and his Cub, especially when it concerned punishment. They breathed a silent sigh of relief when the amber-eyed man stalked out of the room. Maybe the trip to the Pack wouldn´t be as relaxing and fun as they had thought it would be. Their musings were interrupted by Jenna´s shaky smile as she hurried out of the room to ready her bags.

George nodded to his brother in shared approval. Maybe the trip wouldn´t be as fun as they had imagined, but it was already helping Jenna. It was worth it.

000000000000000000000000000000000

´Only two more nights until the next Moongathering.´ Vivian sighed. She should be happy. She would spend the moongathering with her future mate Tup and her best friend! It had been many months since Jenna´s last visit and Viv had been ecstatic when Alpha told her J would be coming to visit. But something was very wrong with J. She had seen that the moment her friend had portkeyed in.

Instead of the cheerful, energetic girl Viv knew from before, an exhausted figure with an air of confusion and fear had appeared. J had immediately been swept away to the den of the pack shaman. Nobody had been allowed to approach their weakened pack-member. Not even Viv.

The two wizards who had accompanied J were introduced by Alpha: J´s mates, or future mates really as they hadn´t mated yet. The boys were likeable enough, and had been able to win over the favor of most of the pack despite the less than positive attitude the pack held towards wizards. The twinsboys returned verbal assaults with teasing sarcasm, enjoyed playing with the young ones and never gave even the slightest hint that they felt superior to werewolves. On the contrary! They asked as many questions as they could and seemed very interested in the stronger senses werewolves had. Viv had even heard them whispering about how much easier pulling pranks would be with those senses. That was the moment she decided she really liked them!

Of course there were still some wolves who scorned them, but the boys were miraculously unbothered. "You can´t please everyone." Was their usual answer.

But despite their cheerful and outgoing manner, Viv could see the worry in their eyes. Not even they were allowed to stay with J during her therapy with the shaman.

Viv persued her lips determinately. ´Only two more nights. Then she will come out and we can run together under the full moon.´ During the Moongathering J would be cured. There was nothing else to it. Jen would be cured. Shoving her doubts and insecurities away roughly, Viv ran towards Tup and the two wizards. If she was going to organise a nice party for J´s recovery, she would have to hurry. She only had two more nights.

000000000000000000000000000000000

Jenna sighed as she absently stroked an exitedly squeaking Izzy. The last two days all she had done was talk with the Shaman. And talk. And talk. And talk.

The Shaman wanted her to communicate with the wolf in her mind, as she needed to learn to release control to him. Trust him. But it wasn´t that easy for her. She didn´t like being vulnerable and besides from the Veela assault she hadn´t let anyone in her mind for three years. Not even Master got complete access.

A faint growl alerted her that the wolf was pacing again. How she was sure this mental manifestation was pacing, she didn´t know. But she was sure of it. The wolf was getting impatient. He wanted freedom.

According to the Shaman, the wolf had been created by series of coincidences. It started with her accepting the bite of Alpha but not gaining the actual transformation-process. A loose strand of power had been released into her body, unnoticed by both Alpha and Cub.

Purposeless magic usually wasn´t a cause for concern. It would just return to the earth or air, ready to be used in other magical works. But this strand was obstructed. It couldn´t reach the ground because its way was blocked by the vampire mark, the only other mark on Jenna´s body at the time. Vampire Magic, like a Vampire, was greedy and in abscence of blood, the vampire magic from the mark tried to take in the loose strand of werewolf power.

It didn´t count on the loose power to fight back. Instead of fusing with the vampire mark, it latched on to the werewolf bite and strengthened it with its own magic, powering it up in a desperate attempt to survive. The bite couldn´t take all the power without forcing a transformation and had shoved the extra power off to Jenna´s subconsciousness. There the power had gone dormant. But everytime Jenna did a spell, the excess magic seeped into it, strengthening it. Until it became a whole new entity.

The mental attack from the Dark Lord had forced the wolf to wake up and he wasn´t backing down now.

Jenna sighed. The only positive thing of this whole mess was that the loose strand of werewolf power had stabilised the vampire mark all those years ago. Who knows what kind of side effects she could have ended up with if that mark had drained magic for years before anyone noticed?

#Don´t close yourself off, Cub. I thought you knew by now it does no good to fight the wolf?# The Shaman reminded her despondant patient gently. She saw the problem, but without her patient´s cooperation she would get nowhere.

With an annoyed growl, Jenna turned away and looked out of the window. She didn´t acknowledge the sigh as the Shaman walked away. She just wanted this all to go away. Her eyes went longingly towards the starry sky. Tomorrow was the moongathering. Why couldn´t she just have a nice celebration with Viv, Fred and George? And Viv´s mate…what was his name again? Closing her eyes in frustration, Jenna cursed her scrambled mind.

A distressed squeak alerted her to the fact that she was stroking Izzy too roughly because of her anger. She gave him an apologetic cuddle, elicting a happy wiggle and squeak, and lay back on the bed. Maybe she should get some more sleep. Sleep was nice and maybe tonight she wouldn´t dream about a wolf trampling her thoughts. Maybe.

From the corner of the room Alpha Grahm watched one of his most troublesome Cubs fall asleep, an angelic look on her face. He turned to the young woman next to him. #Do you think it will work?#

The Shaman shrugged uncertainly. #I´ve never seen anything like this before, Alpha. But she won´t solve this on her own. She will keep trying to ignore the wolf. The spell is our best chance. It will force her together with the wolf spirit. She will either accept the wolf during the full moon or…# She trailed off.

#Or she will not accept him. Ever.# Alpha continued decisively. #And that would be very dangerous with the rising darkness of late.#

He gave a small sigh. #We just have to wait, I guess.#

The Shaman nodded, never taking her concerned eyes of the small form in the bed. Waiting. Shefucking hated waiting.

000000000000000000000000000000000

Fred watched with interest as the latest preparations for the Moongathering were finished. The exited mood of the pack was infective and he had found himself whistling more than once today, despite the fact that he would be spending tonight in the company of bloodthirsty monsters. And the fact that he hadn´t seen Jenna in four days. She wasn´t allowed to have visitors and nothing he or his brother said could convince Professor, no Alpha Grahm otherwise.

The Werewolf ruler wasn´t all that different from his persona as Hogwarts teacher, but the reaction to his authority was. Where Hogwarts students occasionally disobeyed, or were rude, here the wolves took Grahm´s word as law. He was Alpha and nobody would be as stupid as to disobey an order from Alpha.

Fred was happy to see the night of the full moon was only an hour away. He would finally get to see Jenna tonight and maybe she would be cured. That friend of hers, Viv, sure seemed to think so. Determined to keep his thoughts positive, Fred finished his protective circle and stepped into it to test it. Neither he nor his twin would survive this night without good protection, so he wouldn´t take any chances.

Half an hour later he was in the circle together with George and a mournful Izzy. It was too dangerous for Izzy to go with Jenna, but the little animal had refused to be left in the room. He wanted to go with his Mistress! In the end Jenna had compromised and had taken the small animal to her boyfriends, so that Izzy would be able to see her the entire night, but wouldn´t be in any danger.

The twins had taken care to spell themselves scentless and carefully cleared away all traces of their magic outside the circle. If it was one thing werewolves were attracted to, it was magic. With these precautions and a very strong shield grounded to the paintcircle on the grass, they sat back to watch one of the most sensational things of their lives.

The clearing before them was filled with people, at least fifty of them. Adults, teenagers, children, all had taken of their clothes, but none seemed bothered by their nudity. Fred had quirked an eyebrow when he had seen them undressing, but Tup explained blandly that it would cost A LOT to replace the garbs every month. And why be embarrased about being naked, when the eventual mating ceremony would be in front of the entire pack anyway?

That had caused the twins to choke in surprise, while a laughing, naked Viv led her future mate away to the others. The boys could just hear her whisper to Tup "I wonder how they will react when they realise they are J´s mates… and that they will need to perform a mating ceremony as well!" They were so shocked, they didn´t see Viv stiffle a laugh in Tup´s shoulder at their expense. It wasn´t often she could rile them up like that!

Fifteen minutes before the moon would rise, Alpha strode into the clearing. He glowed with power, golden eyes daring his packmembers to challenge him for position as Alpha. A few minutes later he nodded content with the other´s submission. #Tonight we celebrate our gift from Luna, the Moon. We are her servants, her wolves. And tonight we show our gratitude!#

The people in the clearing screamed their agreement, turning glinting eyes at each other in anticipation of tonight.

#Tonight we also have our witch-packmember with us. But she is ill. I will tolerate no fights with her tonight. She needs the moon to heal.# Alpha let his voice end in a fierce growl. He was gratified by the understanding howls he received in return.

At his gesture Jenna strode into the clearing, only casting one glance at the captivated boys behind their shield. She knew they hadn´t expected this…nakedness. But it was good for them to be here. This would help them understand her wolf side better.

That moment an eerie silence fell over the clearing, and in union all heads turned in the same direction. The direction where a large silver orb was rising above the trees. A few more seconds the silence lasted before….

GROWLS

SCREAMS

One howl sounded as the largest wolf, a silvery one, called to the moon. Following the example of their Alpha, more wolves began to howl. Howl. HOWL!

Jenna looked around her with a splitting smile on her face, before she let herself be swept away in the feral feelings of her pack. And from deep within her she could feel a howl bubbling up. She threw her head back a howled with her pack. The extasy only lasted for a minute, before a foreign magic forced her mind to retreat.

With a panicked snarl, Jenna fought back. Who had done this? Who had used a spell on her? It didn´t feel dark. It felt more li…SNARL

Jenna couldn´t fight anymore. Her mind was forced together with the mental wolf, strengthened by the full moon. Hyped on her defensive feral emotions, Jenna attacked. The wolf growled back and pounced.

Back and forth the fight went.

Claws.

Nails.

Teeth.

Fangs!

Hands!

Paws!

And then there was nothing more to fight. The being looked around in surprise. Nothing left to fight? But…And then he/she understood. He/She looked at her hands for confirmation.

Paws, not hands. He/She didn´t have an enemy, he/she was the wolf, he/she was the human. But only for a second.

Back in her human mental form, Jenna looked at the wolf crouching before her. She had been him, only for a second. Only because he had let her. It was enough. He had let himself be vulnerable to show he could be trusted to guard her mind. She could let herself be vulnerable for him.

She nodded. Acceptance.

Jenna opened her physical eyes and saw the wolves around her. Pack. A quick glance at the moon told her she only had about one more hour before the night was over. With a delighted howl she threw herself on hands and feet and raced towards the wolf she recognised as Viv.

Time to PLAY!

000000000000000000000000000000000

George watched in fascination as the wolves howled to the moon one last time and then transformed back into their human forms. He closed his eyes and thought back to what he had seen tonight. A beautiful and unrestraintly feral celebration. And Jenna. Wow. For some reason it didn´t matter she was in a human form. She fit in with the others, her howls and growls just as real and deeply felt as those of the wolves. His eyes had followed her in awe.

But the night hadn´t been just a visual spectacle, it had been filled with worry as well. Only minutes after the start of the moongathering, Jenna had collapsed. It had taken all his restraint to keep from running out of the circle, like Izzy was trying to do. Luckily common sense won in the end, and he had grabbed the animal which was trying to walk through the impenetrable shield. Together with his brother, George had settled for staring at his unconscious girlfriend in worry. They watched the large silver wolf gently dragging her out of the mass, growling at another wolf. The other wolf snarled back and ran to stand protectively over the weakened cub. The guard wolf had made sure none of the fighting wolves would harm her unconscious form.

Aware nothing there was nothing they could do at the moment, George had turned his attention back to the clearing. The field was practically alive with the many wolves darting around, growling at each other playfully and mock-fighting. On the left some of the small cubs were trying to establish dominance over each other, a little more to the right a group of wolves had spotted a prey and were chasing it with joyous howl. Older wolves were merely snuggling together, a few couples were…coupling. And in the middle of it all prowled a silver wolf, sometimes playing along with the others, sometimes fighting his packmembers to make them acknowledge his dominition, sometimes licking his cubs affectionately.

It was magnificent. Even Izzy became silent.

Hours later, the night had caught up with him. He had been awake for almost 24 hours and he was desperately in need of some sleep. Fred had already slipped into sleep and George would have followed him, if not for a small commotion in the back of the field. George was jolted into wakefullness when he remembered that was where Jenna had been dragged to.

He had squinted his eyes fiercely, trying to make out what was happening. And then relief flooded his system. His eyes had lit up at the happy howl that emerged from a half crouched figure. Jenna was awake, and she was finally able to enjoy the full moon like she should. With a grin, George had poked his brother awake and together they had watched the nimble human wolf play with her pack until the moon disappeared behind the horizon.

George smiled tiredly and let the protective shield collapse around him. Half a minute later he had an armful of already sleeping girl. Tonight had been a great succes.

As usual the pack woke up late on the morning after the full moon. Jenna snuggled deeper into the warm arms around her and sighed contently, enjoying the chance to sleep in. Not even Master demanded she do her morning-training on the morning after the full moon. Jenna frowned. With all the chaos after New Year she hadn´t done her usual regime in….what date was it anyway?

Mentally she started the process of counting back the days spent in Snape Manor and here in the company of the Shaman. To her surprise it wasn´t difficult at all. It wasn´t hard to recall memories, it wasn´t hard to make links between different pieces of information. It wasn´t hard to remember! Well, except for what happened last night, but she always had problems remembering moongatherings due to the intense emotion they evoked.

With anticipation, Jenna retreated into her mind. She had a vague memory of howling at the moon and then foreign magic, healing magic…the Shaman! And then forced together with a wolf and fighting and accepting. Did that mean….

She let out a triumphant yell when she regarded her mental landscape. A sky filled with rainclouds, a shadowy land with lots of places to hide and even a few sunlit fields. Her memories were organised like they were before, sorted in air, water, earth, vegetation and animals. Master had smirked when he had seen the way she filed her thoughts, explaining to her that most people used filingcabinets or bookcases. But Jenna didn´t like that. She wanted space, so she created space for her memories. And lots of freedom.

A growl pulled her from her musings and Jenna followed the sound to the edge of her mental world. This had changed. No longer did her large, stone, Occlumency walls protect her mind. Now it was a swirling, pale yellow energy. Jenna smiled softly and reached out a hand. The energy let out a howl and for a second flowed into a form resembling a wolf, before becoming an indecernable flow again.

With a sigh of contentment, Jenna let herself wake up in the real world again. Her mind was safe as it could be. Her eyes opened to stare into two bright green eyes with amber flecks. Viv.

"Wake up, J. We organised a party for your recovery." Viv hestitated briefly, something the confident girl didn´t do often. "You are recovered, aren´t you?"

Jenna glanced around and saw Fred, George, Alpha and the Shaman waiting intently for her answer. She smiled brightly, trying to hide her relief at no longer having to struggle with her own mind. "´Course I am, Viv. As if I´d miss a party in my honour!"

Viv grinned back. She leaned in closely and whispered with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Come on, let´s go pick an outfit. You made quite an ehh ´impression´ on your mates by sleeping in their arms naked." Viv glanced meaningfully at the bulge in both twins´ pants. "Surely we can find you a nice outfit that will…´impress´ them even more. Oh, and remember that dance I taught you? I think it´s time we reminded our mates how lucky they are to have us, don´t you?"

Jenna choked. Only Viv would come up with things like that, the werewolf so loved to tease. And as always Viv´s mood was infectuous. Sharing a gleeful glance with Viv, Jenna jumped up to pick out an outfit for the party. Viv immediately linked arms and marched her out the door. Before leaving, Viv cast a cheeky glance back at Tup and wiggled her naked bum. "See you at the party, lover."

With that the two girls ran out of the room, laughing outrageously.

Alpha barked a short laugh at the dumbfounded looks on the faces of the three boys. #It looks like your spell worked, Shaman. She is back alright.#

The Shaman smiled back. Yes, she had missed the antics of those two rascals.

Hours later, the five youths crashed down on the couches in the livingroom. They had danced, jumped and partied until all the nervous energy that had been building these last days was gone. Jenna smiled as her friend snuggled into her mate´s arms. "You chose well, Viv."

Tup grinned smugly, well aware it was him they were talking about. Viv merely smiled back. "So did you, J."

Fred preened outrageously. "She did, didn´t she?" And that started a light banter that was only halted by the floo-connection flaring green. Five pairs of eyes watched a dark-haired head appear in the fire. All humor was swept from their systems at the serious look on the man´s face.

"Apprentice, you need to come to Hogwarts."

END CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

AN Apologies for the long wait. I have written several versions of the moongathering and every time I was dissatisfied, so I deleted it again and started over until I got to this version. It just took a while (but at least it is a long chappie, right?) And this way you can get to know Viv (and Tup) a bit better. Don´t know if they will play a big role in the rest of the story, but I thought Jenna should see her best girl friend again.

I hope all questions about the wolf spirit have been answered to your satisfaction. Jenna has regained a mental balance and will now be ready for the confrontations at Hogwarts. I wrote her behaviour at the beginning of the chapter as deliberately erratic to show the strain of not being able to rely on her own mind. I wrote the moongathering in short words, without much description from the point of view of Jenna and the wolves, because I imagine that it would feel that way for the wolves: All instinct and no words.

Hope you liked it!