053. I barely recognised you
Word Count: 1,034
After his classes ended that day, James took out the letter that he'd received in the Owl earlier and looked at the simple leather cord that had been hidden inside the envelope. It was supposedly a Portkey to Keira's rehabilitation facility in Romania, and James had arranged to try his hand with the animals over the weekend.
Sirius and Remus, for their part, were making their way around Ireland that weekend, looking for a place to move into together without being disturbed. New laws had recently been passed recently, further constricting the rights of werewolves in Great Britain, yet neither Remus or Sirius were particularly inclined to start over in a new country.
"What are you waiting for, Jimmy?" Sirius asked when he noticed who the letter was from. "She's doing important work, and you can help her with it," he said.
"And shouldn't you and Remy be on your way to the countryside of Ireland?" James asked. "Since you're unwilling to check out the forests of Scandinavia or thereabouts?"
Remus showed up at Sirius' side. "I don't want to have to go there unless there are no other possible options," he said quietly. "Greyback keeps his pack up there, and I don't want to face him any time soon."
"Isn't Greyback -"
"He is the reason I am what I am, yes," Remus said as he and James followed Sirius out to the border of Hogwarts territory. "But as such, he is my alpha, and if I seek him out, I will be forced to acknowledge that."
Sirius grinned. "Remy here likes to be the one in charge," he said with a laugh as he picked Remus up bridal-style and walked over to the Apparition point. "We'll see you on Sunday night, Jimmy," he said. "Don't get into any trouble without me," he added before Apparating away.
James grinned and turned his focus onto the leather cord. It was a necklace - that much had been explained in the letter - and there were dark grey dog tags handing on the cord. He put the necklace on and took hold of the dog tags. Closing his eyes a moment, he shoved the letter into his pocket and spoke the activation word. "Haven."
He was whisked away to the front door of a large manor house, and the door opened just seconds after he arrived.
Keira stared at him oddly for a moment before realization sank in. "James," she said. "I barely recognized you. You look like you haven't slept in a month. Are you feeling alright?" she asked as a white kitten jumped up onto her shoulder.
"I've just had some problems sleeping lately," he said. "How can I help out?"
"I'm going to show you around the sanctuary before I introduce you to our newest additions," she said, motioning for James to follow her inside.
The house was sparsely decorated, in a very zen sort of manner, but James' attention was focused mostly on the various animals that wandered throughout the house. In addition to the kitten on Keira's shoulder, there were two red foxes, a tiger cub, and a large black dog that, on first glance, looked almost identical to Sirius' Animagus form.
"You can go just about everywhere in the house, except the upstairs loft," Keira said. "It's nothing personal, but -"
"Not a problem," James replied. He followed Keira out of the house, taking note of the large herd of horses wandering in the open yard. "You mentioned that you had some new additions," he said. "How many animals do you have here?"
Keira looked back at him. "This is the only place like this in the world, and because of that, there are usually somewhere around eight hundred animals here. Of that, about two hundred of them stay here for the rest of their lives," she said. "The new additions came from America about a week ago, and they were forced to fight for money. Their wounds have been healed, but a few of them might not make it anyway."
James frowned. "What are they?"
"Wolves," Keira said. "They were stolen from their pack as pups, and then forced to fight each other to the death. Remus mentioned that you're good with canids, so I was hoping that you would see if you can work with them today."
"Sure," James said with a shrug. "I can't make any promises, but I'll do what I can. Where are the wolves?"
Keira smiled a bit. "They're in the barn out back, but I've separated the males and the females into two stalls," she said, walking with James out to the barn.
There were about a dozen wolves in total, and James was shocked almost speechless when he saw their bloody, malnourished state.
Keira looked over at him when she noticed James staring at the most undernourished of the wolves. "He's barely more than a pup, but he has more scars than the others," she said.
"What's his name?" James asked when he finally gathered himself enough to speak.
"None of them have names yet," she replied. The dog tags around her neck started to glow blue, and she swore quietly. "We've got a visitor," she said. "Feel free to name the pack members, as I doubt they'll be leaving the sanctuary any time soon." She turned to make her way out of the barn, but turned around to look at James. "Oh, if by chance either you or the animals get hurt, just touch the dog tags and say my name. I'll show up as fast as I can."
James nodded, turning his attention back onto the younger wolf. "Got it."
"I'll be back in about an hour," she said before disappearing around the corner.
