Fenrir, Mary and Scabior
Training, courting and explaining. Fen trains Scabior and courts Mary. Scabior has his past explained. They are given an important assignment.
Fenrir (POV)
It had taken a couple of months of daily training sessions, several hunting trips and his courtship of Mary, but finally he had managed to break through Scabior's defensive walls. The boy finally trusted him again. He'd known before he left that he was the only one the boy had trusted and he was angry with himself for a while after coming back. He should have made sure there were others besides himself for the boy to depend on. He just hadn't counted on the wizards keeping him in custody as long as they had. If not for the breakout, he'd still be waiting for a release date and the boy would still be getting the hell beat out of him on a daily basis.
The day Scabior managed to pin him three times during a training session was the day he declared him fully trained. That's when he told Scabior he would be allowed to start going to the outside world with him. Until now, Fenrir had kept the boy in the wild, with the pack.
"If I'm a wizard, why haven't I already been going to the outside world, Fen?" Scabior was confused. 'Was he a wolf or a wizard?'
"You are a wizard, but they wouldn't look at you like one. All they would see is someone who turns into a 'monster' for one week of every month." Fen told him sadly.
"Is that why I don't have a wand, either? Mary and her mum and dad have wands. Some of the others have wands, too." Scabior asked.
"Yeah, that's why you don't have a wand. I never sent you to school, that was SUPPOSED to be Cassie's job, your magical training. When we first got you, you were too young for a wand. When I left, you were still too young. On your tenth birthday, you should have gotten a Hogwarts letter, did you?" Fen was curious. 'Had the boy gotten a letter?'
"Yeah, but she burned it. For a while there was a letter every day, I don't know who they were from. She was mad at you for having to go away. I thought they were from you and she just didn't want to hear from you. There was an old man who came to see her, I heard them talking about me. That was after HE showed up. HE told Cassie I wasn't to leave the camp, ever. HE told the old man to clear the hell out or be shredded." Fen grunted, it was the only thing the interloper had done right. He just wished it had been himself here to chase Dumbledore away.
"Why was he talking about me, Fen?" Scabior was still confused.
"Because, if you hadn't been bitten at age seven, son, you would have gone to Hogwarts. Your wizarding parents would have sent you there. But, as you weren't raised by wizards, Cassie was SUPPOSED to do your magical training. She didn't?" Fen was sure the interloper was responsible.
"HE wouldn't let her. HE told her I didn't need any kind of training. That, sure as I was trained, l'd turn on the pack and lead the humans here to kill everyone. HE didn't like me because I can only transform at the full moon." Scabior hated being different from the rest of the pack. "You are my son. Just because I'm not your blood father doesn't change that one bit. I took you in after your real family rejected you, I took care of you. What HE said doesn't matter one bit. The only thing HE did right was running Albus Dumbledore out of our camp. I'll be damned if I would have let a crackpot like that be in charge of your schooling. The magic I've taught you over the past couple of months is the magic that will keep you alive."
He'd been teaching the boy wandless magic, in addition to his fighting skills. "These are your primary weapons, boy." He held Scabior's hands up, then pointed at his teeth. "Those are your secondary weapons. If you are EVER fighting another wizard, boy, and he pins you, lunge towards him with those teeth. If he thinks he's about to be bit, he'll get the hell away in a flash." He patted the boy on the head. "When we go to London next week, we'll go to Ollivander's. Get you a wand BUT I don't ever want to see you getting dependent on that wand or I'll snap it myself. The wand is strictly a last resort weapon, you hear me?" Scabior's eyes were wide as he nodded in agreement.
Scabior (POV)
He was asleep when the Alpha came home. THE MALE had just beaten the hell out of him again. He fucking hated that bastard! When Mary came in, all excited, he found out the news.
"Scabior, your dad is home! The Alpha is back! He got rid of them, they left right after he walked into his house, isn't that great?" she was bouncing around, too happy to sit still. The Alpha had smiled at her! She remembered a good looking man from before. But he was BUILT! She couldn't help a small shiver of fear at the size of him, though. As badly as the other male could beat Scabior almost to death, one hard enough blow from the Alpha could probably outright kill her little brother!
Scabior stared sleepily at her. "I don't want to see him. He won't like me either. I'd sooner just leave. Then he won't have an unwanted pup running around. Nobody would miss a little nothing like me."
Mary snorted. "You are not nothing! You are MY little brother and I'll tell him that. He's not going to kick you out of the pack! Besides, just who all are the nobodies who would want you to go? I want you to stay and I'm definitely not nobody!"
She pulled and tugged on the boy until he agreed to get up, get ready and go to the feast that night. They walked down the trail to the square. She didn't see the Alpha yet but surely he wouldn't miss his own homecoming feast, would he?
Scabior was anxious to go join his brothers, now that he knew the other male was gone. He could finally see if the wolf had been lying to him or not. His brothers had seemed nice enough when he first met them, but then he was forbidden to have any contact with anyone but HER and HIM. He was even forbidden to say their names. The only things he'd been allowed to call them were Master and Mistress. Master had beaten him and left him in the rain for speaking his name. Mary had found him and pulled him home. Soon after that, he'd started running away to Mary's house every time he was beaten.
They stood there, talking. Since he'd only known the man roughly two years before he left, he didn't really have much more than vague memories of him. He was nineteen now. He'd been nine when the Alpha surrendered himself to the wizards. When the interloper came in he'd just turned ten.
Mary looked past him and smiled. He turned and saw the Alpha looking at her. Then he shifted his attention to Scabior. He walked toward them. Scabior straightened defiantly, ready to fight him off of Mary.
"Hey, pup, I heard you've had a rough time of it lately?" he asked.
"No, I haven't. He didn't hurt me. I'm tougher than I look." Scabior declared stubbornly as he tilted his chin, unaware of how his action clearly showed his injuries. He tensed as the man suddenly pulled him close, rubbing the top of his head with rough knuckles. He was actually being playful with him! He had to laugh, then squirmed around till the man let him go. He walked off to stand with his brothers but kept his eye on them. The Alpha had zeroed in on Mary and Scabior was determined to protect her.
They had gone to dance. He relaxed as long as he could see them. When the dance was over, he went to collect Mary. The alpha surprised them with a dinner invitation the next evening.
Scabior had cautiously returned home that evening. Fenrir, his Beta and the camp scouts sat in the kitchen, discussing new security measures. Apparently the bad wizard who caused such a ruckus nineteen years ago was back and the good wizards were all having panic attacks, thinking he was going to cause more trouble. The wolves laughed at the tales of people going into hiding. 'oooo, the big, bad wizard is back, oh, woe is me, oooo!'
Fenrir caught sight of the boy, quietly trying to slip through, unnoticed. The others watched silently. They knew what this pup meant to their leader. He'd been just a wizard once, as well. His human family had been shredded in front of him, he was left for dead himself. They had seen pictures of his family and that boy would almost pass as his youngest human son. They were all glad to have the Alpha back, not only for the whole pack, but especially for this boy. He needed his dad.
"Scabior!" he watched as the boy clenched his eyes, gritted his teeth and slowly turned to face him.
"Yeah, sir?" he asked, eyes downcast.
"Training starts at six in the morning, boy, get plenty of sleep tonight." The boy's eyes popped open in surpirise.
"Yes, sir!" he chirped and went on to his room.
"You know he thought you were going to find fault with him, don't you?" asked his Beta, Romero.
"Yep, I knew. I also know Cassie didn't train him, the way she was supposed to. If she had, the rat bastard would never have been able to lay a hand on him. Not without sustaining damage himself. That's ok, though. Now I can train him the way he needs to be trained. Much as I hate to, sooner or later, I'll have to let him go to the outside world. At least for a little while, let him sow some wild oats. I'd love to be able to keep him hidden away from the world. But that wouldn't be fair to him." Fenrir took a sip of whiskey as he looked over the new boundaries they needed to establish.
The next morning, Mary went looking for her little brother. To her surprise, he wasn't home nor was he in the square with their friends. "He's training, Mary. Him and the Alpha are in the meadow."
'Training?' she thought. She raced off to keep watch and make sure the Alpha didn't end up beating him. Fenrir and Scabior were, indeed, in the meadow. Fen was explaining the different holds and techniques he'd be teaching Scabior. Mary sat on a large boulder to watch. After watching them grapple a while, she was surprised when the Alpha started teaching him some rudimentary wandless magic. The training session came to an end and they walked toward her.
"Mary, how are you today?" the Alpha asked.
"I'm good, thank you, Alpha." She replied as he helped her off the boulder.
"Ah, ah, the name is Fen, remember?" he teased.
"Sorry." She laughed. "I remember, Fen."
"That's better." Fen smiled. Scabior walked slightly ahead, glancing back at them. "I think we have a chaperone." He spoke in a lower voice, nodding at him.
Mary giggled. "He's very protective of me. Has been ever since I took him home that first night."
"Thank you for caring for him. That was a bad mistake on my part. I kept the child with me every day before I left. He didn't have a chance to bond with anyone besides Cassie and me. If he had, he wouldn't have suffered as much as he has." Fenrir sighed. "It's going to take a while before he trusts anyone else, even me."
"Hey, Fen, don't worry. Scabior does trust you. He just doesn't know you. As soon as he knows you again, it'll be like you never left. He told me all about you. Every day, he'd show me something you had shown him and talk about his dad, the Alpha. He always knew you'd be back. He wasn't sure when, but he knew you'd be back." Fen smiled proudly.
"I'm glad. I look forward to hearing him call me dad again, not Alpha or Master. Can't believe that rat bastard would make him call them Master and Mistress or that Cassie would allow it. Makes me want to hunt them both down, shred them and leave them for the next pack to find." He gritted his teeth at the thought.
Mary hugged his arm. "They'll get theirs. My mum always says bad things come full circle. Whatever you do to someone always comes back to bite you in the arse."
Fenrir laughed. "Your mum sounds like a wise woman." He eased his arm around Mary's shoulder, pulled her close and was pleased to feel her arm curl around his back. The pup kept a careful watch on them over his shoulder.
After that day, it seemed like the training went by in a whirl. Scabior proved to be a natural at fighting techniques. It took a while for him to pick up the wandless magic without exploding at least two trees a day. But he was finally able to control his bursts of magic and start directing it the way he wanted to.
Fen and Mary grew closer all the time. She would sometimes stay with her mum in the village. More and more often, though, she could be found at the meadow, watching Scabior's training sessions. She was there the day he finally managed to pin Fen down three times. Fen proudly told him he was now fully trained. They spoke briefly of Scabior's past and wands. Fen told him next time he went to London, Scabior could go with him. They would go to Ollivander's and get a wand for Scabior.
That evening, Fen and Mary were taking a walk around the parameter of the village. "I'll be going to London soon. The boy needs a wand and I have an old friend who has been waiting for me to visit him." Fen looked up at the night sky. They had ended up at the boulder, at the edge of the training meadow. He was leaned back, holding Mary against him.
"I'll miss you. You ARE coming back, aren't you?" Mary tipped her head back to see his face.
"Of course, I'm coming back. I wouldn't leave this time, but he's sent me several massages, asking me to visit. We were good friends growing up. He was one of the very few who would still associate with me after I was bitten." Fen told her. He didn't tell her his friend was the very wizard who had caused so much trouble nineteen years ago. He didn't think she would like hearing that!
"Will you come see me when you come back?" she held her breath.
"Actually, I was hoping to have you moved into my house before I left." He waited.
Mary's eyes widened and she gasped. "You,, you,,, what?"
Fen lifted her onto the boulder and reached into his pocket. "Mary Delaney, would you do me the honor of becoming my mate?" he held a necklace in his hand. It matched the necklace he wore, proclaiming him the Alpha. If she accepted, it would proclaim her as the Alpha female. It was something Fen had not offered Cassie. She had just automatically assumed living with Fen made her the Alpha female.
Mary had tears in her eyes but she was smiling happily. She gathered up her hair as Fen fastened the necklace for her. She threw her arms around him, laughing with joy. Fen couldn't help it, he got caught up in her excitement. He picked her up and carried her back, bridal style. They went to let her parents know she was the new mate of their Alpha. They took a weeklong trip, just the two of them and came back to move Mary in with him and Scabior. Scabior, who had stayed with Mary's parents while they were gone, presented them with a carving he'd done. It was the two of them, seated on 'their' boulder. Fen proudly displayed it in the center of the mantle.
Two days later, he, Scabior and ten of his other pups were ready to go to London. They apparated from Scotland to England and walked into the Leaky Cauldron from the Muggle side. Fen showed Scabior how to open the archway into Diagon Alley. They walked down the sidewalk in a large group. From the way people were hurriedly moving away, Scabior was starting to see what Fen had been talking about. They went into Ollivander's. Scabior was fitted with a wand and was glad to get the hell out of that shop. 'The old man gave him the heebie-jeebies!'
After acquiring the wand, he took him to Madame Malkins Robes. Of course, Scabior didn't need robes. But, if he was going to be spending any length of time at all in the outside world, he would need more clothes than he currently had. As his boys spread out into other shops and around the street, Scabior wandered around the shop. Watching him was like watching a kid in a candy shop, which incidentally was going to be their next stop as Mary had asked for some candy that their local wizarding villages didn't keep in stock. That would have to be Hogsmeade but they would have to backtrack, then go on to Malfoy Manor.
After looking all the clothes over, Scabior made his choice. Combat boots, black pants, white, long sleeved dress shirt with a black vest featuring a double row of buttons. With it, Madame Malkin helped him choose a green tie. He also took two pairs of black gloves, one with fingers and one without. After getting Fen's approval and the outfit paid for, they went out the door. Fen was telling about their last stop before going to visit his friend.
The wolf pack apparated to Hogsmeade, where Fen and Scabior went to Honeydukes and bought Mary a large pack of their homemade fudge. Afterwards, they went to Malfoy Manor and Fen sent a Patronus. Bella came to the gate.
"What's new, Bella?" asked Fen conversationally.
Bella smiled slyly. "A great deal, Fen, a great deal! You'll see, it's not anything bad, though, it's all good."
Fen just raised a brow. He wasn't sure whether to be happy or panicked by anything causing Bella joy. They walked into the manor and up the stairs to the drawing room. He had seen Voldemort shortly before the man tried to kill Harry Potter and frankly the man hadn't looked too good. As he walked in, a neatly dressed man with brown hair going gray turned to greet him. It was Tom Riddle as he'd been in the height of his political revolution.
"Fen, my old friend, how are you? How goes it with your pack?" he asked.
Fen greeted him with a smile. "thriving, some good, some bad, all strong."
"Fen! You've added a few since the let time I saw your pups. Who's the boy in the black pants?" wondered Voldemort.
"That's Scabior. My youngest human pup. He's wizard born and, well,,, you know, bitten, rejected,, same olé, same olé. My scouts heard screams, the attack, the humans killed the wolf but left the boy. So they picked him up, brought him home. Feisty, mouthy as hell (once you get him talking, that is), impulsive, headstrong. But you give that boy a scent, he stays on it until he finds it. I've kept him secluded long enough. Figured it was time he learned how to make it in the real world. I still have him under restrictions but he's loving the little bit of freedom I've given him."
Voldemort looked at him intently. "Does he have a mate yet?"
Fenrir cocked an eyebrow at Voldemort. "Nooo," he said, drawing the answer out.
"He's wizard born, you said?" Voldemort pressed on, knowing he'd captured the wolf's attention.
"Yes, wizard born, wolf raised." Fen answered. He was curious about all the questions but Tom had his reasons for asking them. Fen was willing to wait until he was ready to talk.
"I'm old, Fen, and getting older each day. When I was younger, I made foolish choices out of anger, spite and bitterness. I caused a war because I couldn't deal with how I was treated as a child. Now, I'm wiser, I hope." He chuckled. "I have a daughter, Fen. A daughter I knew nothing about until recently. She knows nothing about me. I need you to take a special hunting trip, my friend. You know of Dumbledore's beloved 'Golden Trio', don't you?" Fen nodded silently. "I need you to track them down. I want to sign a peace treaty. I need the girl from the Trio to write out the draft for the other side. I have our side drafted. Can you bring me the girl?"
Fenrir tipped his head. "We can. But it might take a while, depending on how fast the boy catches her scent. He's my best tracker." He nodded towards Scabior, who was staring in awe at the talking, moving portraits.
"I know I don't need to say this but it's important to me that she arrive here unharmed and untouched, pure. Or I'll have to start removing parts from your boy." Voldemort mentioned casually.
Fen winced but nodded. "Unharmed, untouched and pure. I can do that. The boy will listen to his Alpha. What if she's already been touched before we find her?"
"Then I shall send you on another trip and that one, you can wolf out as much as you want to, as long as you kill the one who touched her." Voldemort snarled. Fenrir smiled widely at that answer.
"Shall we get started now? The sooner we leave here, the sooner we can make it back with her." Fen said. Voldemort handed him three flyers. The faces of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger stared at him. Fenrir frowned. He looked at Voldemort, then back at the girl. His eyes widened. He looked back at Voldemort who smiled, sheepishly.
"Ah, now I see. No worries, Tom, I'll keep her safe. Once we find her, that is." Fen reassured his friend. He understood having a lost child, wanting to know they were safe. He'd felt that same fear, over Scabior, the whole time he was in Azkaban.
"Scabior, boys, come on, we got work to do! Let's move out!" Fen snapped the order out.
"Geryback!" yelled Yaxley, the new head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. "Wait up, I have something here." He strode quickly over to the group. One by one, he tied a red bandanna around the left bicep of each wolf. "This identifies you as Snatchers. Now, best of luck to you and your boys. Go out and Snatch the girl."
