Chapter 7: Not Monsters

Leo felt warmth and softness all around him as he slowly regained consciousness. There was a brightness behind his eyelids, signalling to him that the sun had now risen. He began feeling around slightly with his fingers and became acutely aware of the fact that, from the waist up, he was naked. Bandages were wrapped around his torso and right arm and the tightness around his head informed him there was a bandage there as well. He kept his breathing even and steady as he subtly scented the air, discovering the scents of many werewolves around him – though only two were in close proximity.

"You know, you can stop pretending already," stated an amused voice. "Your breathing changed when you woke up."

Leo groaned before opening his eyes and trying to sit up. He hissed in pain and a gentle hand forced him back down amongst the pillows and blankets that made up his little nest. He blinked at the girl above him – a girl who appeared to be his age. She had braided chocolate brown hair that seemed to make her crystal blue eyes stand out even more. Freckles dotted across her nose and cheeks, only visible when you were up close and personal.

She scrutinized him for a moment before she traced her hands lower down his abdomen, gently prodding various spots. Leo grabbed her tiny hands with his larger ones, not particularly fond of how familiar she was trying to get with him. He had a girlfriend for God's sake! His eyes widened and he released her as his hand went around his neck, his body relaxing when warmth flooded through him as he touched his pendant. He glanced down at his right forearm, relieved to see his holster and wand were still there. Not that they'd be able to remove them. Thanks to the enchantments in place, no living being could take it off. He had learned his lesson from Umbridge.

He attempted to sit up again, growling in pain and pushing the girl away when she tried to put her hands on him again. When he was fully sat up, he saw Henry and Toby sitting in the yurt – for, given the canvas above him, it was unmistakably a Muggle tent – looking quite relieved and pleased. His thoughts began to catch up to him and he realized Toby had been the one who had spoken earlier. Probably his idea to undress me. He rolled his eyes. Or the girl's. Don't think I like how handsy she was.

"How long have I been out?" Leo finally questioned.

"Three days," Henry informed him, noticing his stricken expression. "You were badly injured after your fight with Greyback. You probably would've died were it not for Alia here."

He nodded to the girl.

"She's my younger sister," Toby stated. "And the only one who's not a werewolf in the camp – not for lack of trying though. Dad bit her a long time ago and she never turned. So, she's sorta become the healer for the pack -"

"Very handsy too, I see," Leo grumbled before looking at Henry and raising his voice. "Do you have some parchment and something to write with? I need to send a message to my friends and let them know I'm alive."

"We don't have owls," Alia informed him, speaking for the first time.

"I don't need an owl."

They all shared curious looks before Toby stepped outside the tent and said something. He came back in and, a few minutes later, another man strode in. He took one look at Leo and immediately kneeled, bowing his head and holding out the notebook and pen. Leo stared at him, a bit unsettled as he took the objects with a mumbled 'thanks' and began scribbling a note.

Still alive. Currently recovering. Will return when I can.

-Aslan

He tore the page out and reached up a hand to pluck a hair from his head. He put the hair on the paper and folded it multiple times until it fit between his clasped hands. He closed his eyes and concentrated hard on Draco and the parchment burst into golden flames, much to the astonishment of those around him. Opening his eyes, he saw the kneeling man was still there, staring at him in awe. Leo quirked an eyebrow up at him and handed him back his things.

"Er, you can go now," he said, watching with vague amusement as the man quickly did as he was told. "What's up with him?"

The other three exchanged a look before Alia began to speak.

"With the defeat of my father three days ago," she said slowly. "Our pack was left leaderless for the first time in as long as anyone could remember. Yesterday, everyone gathered to vote on who should lead us next and..."

"We've decided to make you our Alpha," Henry grinned. "Since you defeated Greyback – since you risked your life to fight for us – it was unanimously decided that it should be you."

"What about Toby?" Leo frowned. "Shouldn't it go to him since he was the Alpha's son?"

"First off, do you really want me leading these sods and telling them what to do?" Toby rolled his eyes. "It would be a disaster. Secondly, we thought it was best if we didn't replace one Greyback with another. We need new, fresh blood – one without the stain of Greyback. That's you, mate."

"B-but I'm not a werewolf!" Leo protested.

"And maybe that's what we need," Henry shrugged. "Maybe we need a human to lead to remind us that that's what we are. A few bad nights out of the month don't change who we are. We're human. We need a human leader and we've chosen you. You can keep protesting or accept your role as our Alpha."

Leo was silent as he contemplated this. His goal when challenging Greyback had been to free the werewolves and weaken Voldemort's army. He was not expecting to bolster his own. He was delighted that they wanted to help him, frustrated that they still saw themselves as creatures that needed to be led, and nervous at the idea that they wanted him to lead them. Leading a bunch of teenagers was a lot different from leading an army of people who were much older than him. Still...

"You're not really leaving me much choice now are you?" Leo sighed, receiving broad grins from Toby and Henry and a headshake from Alia. "I assume they're probably waiting for me to come out and make a speech?"

"Whenever you're ready, Alpha," Henry bowed his head.

Leo frowned when Toby and Alia did the same but decided not to address it at this time. He slowly pushed himself up into a crouching position, waving Alia away when she moved toward him. He used the pole in the middle of the yurt to pull himself into a standing position. He took a moment to steady himself before he slowly moved toward the exit of the yurt. He raised a hand to shield himself from the bright sunlight before blinking and lowering it as he stared at the mass of people kneeling before him. Toby, Henry, and Alia soon joined them. Looks like I need to address this now. He sighed, straightening himself and holding back the wince of pain.

"I have a few things to cover. First of all – this bowing and kneeling nonsense," Leo began, waving a hand toward them all. "You don't need to do that. I'm not better than you. I'm not some deity or being that you have to bow to or show respect to. We're equals – friends. Friends don't bow to each other. Until you lot stand up, I won't continue with my speech."

No one moved.

"We're not bowing because we think you're better than us," Toby rolled his eyes. "We're bowing because you're our Alpha and we respect you. You're our hero -"

"I'm no hero," Leo snapped.

"Handsome and humble. Quite the combination," Toby grinned. "Anyway, it's a werewolf thing – tradition. We show our respect and loyalty by kneeling to our Alpha... you wouldn't want to take away something that sacred to us, now would you?"

Leo narrowed his eyes at him.

"As a person, I hate you," he grumbled before raising his voice. "When I decided to challenge Greyback, I have to confess that I did not do it solely to free you – though that was one of my goals. I did it to help my friends and family – my pack. As many of you may know, Greyback was following the leadership of the Dark Lord – who from here on out shall be known by various nicknames such as Moldy, Moldywarts, Moldyshorts, He-Who-Has-No-Nose, and other assorted monikers."

He paused, grinning when he heard snickers amongst the crowd.

"Moldy was using the werewolves to storm Hogwarts and keep its denizens trapped – and I need your help to free the people inside and take down his army of evil," Leo continued before pausing briefly. "I don't expect all of you to fight – and I won't force you to do so. If you wish to not fight, you may stay in the pack or seek your fortunes elsewhere. The pack will not abandon or turn against you. I wasn't expecting to get allies as great and noble as you on my side – at best I was hoping to keep you safe and out of the fight. But, if you wish to help, I would be eternally grateful."

There was silence for a moment before Toby rose to his feet and said he would fight. Henry and Alia joined swiftly after him. One by one, werewolves of all shapes and sizes rose to their feet, vocalizing their decision to stand beside Leo and fight. His eyes widened in shock as three-quarters of the werewolves present joined his army – which he could now officially say he had. The only ones who did not join were those who were too young, too old, or expecting. Leo felt confidence and pride blossom through him. He had the beginnings of an army now and was one step closer to bringing down Moldy and freeing Hogwarts.

Leo strolled nonchalantly through the front door of Privet Drive and out onto the empty street, wearing his usual disguise and giving a brief wave at the werewolf who had Apparated him back to the house. A week had gone by since his fight with Greyback, and he felt he had recovered enough to finally return to Grimmauld. He updated his friends daily, making sure they knew he was still alive and heading home to them. Is it really home though? He frowned as he walked down the street. It's more like our base of operations, now that I really think of it. Dunno if I'd want to live there after the war's over.

He shook his head, deciding that he probably shouldn't plan out his post-war future. He needed to focus on winning the war, everything else could come later. He nodded to an elderly couple who sat on the bus stop bench, smiling slightly as he absent-mindedly reached up a hand to fiddle with his pendant. Warmth flooded through him, chasing away the chill that permeated most of Britain nowadays.

"That's a beautiful necklace," the old woman said kindly.

"Thank you, it was a Christmas gift from my girlfriend," Leo grinned proudly. "Funnily enough, I got her one just like this – except hers is a moon."

"Aww, that's very sweet," the old woman smiled. "Great minds think alike. How long have you two been together?"

"'Bout a year and a half," Leo informed her, memories of their first meeting flashing through his mind. "A mutual friend of ours introduced us and we started hanging out. Started dating not long after..." He paused, shaking his head. "Sorry, you probably don't want to hear about that."

"Nonsense," the old woman replied. "When you love someone, you can't help but want to speak of them. Love should always be cherished and celebrated – especially young love."

The old woman grabbed her husband's hand and elicited a smile from him. He pecked her on the lips and Leo, far from being disgusted like most teenagers would be, found himself envying the connection the two still had after all these years. He briefly wondered if that would be him and Luna one day and shook his head. That was too far in the future to be thinking about when he was still in the midst of a war.

The bus arrived a few minutes later and Leo allowed the couple to board ahead of him before depositing his money in the tin and taking a seat at the back of the bus. The bus ride to King's Cross seemed to take an eternity – though he supposed that was mostly because he was so frustrated. The windows were lightly frosted and a thin layer of fog covered them, signifying that the dementors were still quite abundant around London. Just one Patronus and I could send those buggers flying. He growled lowly to himself.

It was with great relief that the bus finally arrived at King's Cross and he was able to depart. He made for the alley nearby and applied his Disillusionment charm before making the trek to Grimmauld Place. Upon his arrival at the house, he stopped and stared at the figure lying on the bench across from his hideout. The person was absentmindedly tossing a ball in the air and catching it, only pausing briefly to turn and look at where Leo was standing and giving a small wink before returning to his activity. Leo shook his head and rolled his eyes at Toby's antics before heading up the steps to the door.

Given that the werewolves were already in Voldemort's army, Leo figured they could use it to their advantage. Toby had approached his Moldiness and informed him of Fenrir's demise at Leo's hands. Leo wasn't quite sure what story he had come up with but had heard that it had something to do with him riding into the camp atop a unicorn and decapitating Greyback with a flaming sword. He didn't think Moldy would've bought that, but regardless of what he was told, at least his Animagus abilities had remained secret.

Toby informed Voldemort that he had taken command of the werewolves and that they now sought revenge for Greyback's death. He explained that he had heard that they usually had Death Eaters stationed at Grimmauld where Leo and his friends supposedly hid and requested that werewolves be placed there instead. Voldy didn't like this idea at first, but when Toby explained that they'd be able to smell them despite whatever Disillusionment charms might be in place, the Dark Lord was sold. Now Leo and his friends could come and go from Grimmauld without fear of alerting the Death Eaters. One of many perks to having spies in Moldy's army. Leo grinned as he opened the door and entered the house.

Closing the door behind him, he removed his charms and breathed a sigh of relief. He had made it back alive. More than that, he had made it back alive and gained new allies. Feeling triumphant, he sniffed the air and followed the scents of his friends down to the kitchen. Opening the door, four heads whirled around to face him, each of them holding different expressions. Harry's held relief, Ron's held shock, Hermione looked close to tears and Draco looked furious. Oh, dear. Leo raised his eyebrows as Draco marched over and punched him in the mouth.

"Suppose I deserved that," Leo stated, spitting blood from his mouth onto the ground.

"Yes, you did," Draco replied curtly before returning to his seat.

Leo glanced around at everyone else.

"If anyone else wants to have a go at me, now would be the proper time."

There was silence before both Hermione and Harry began yelling at him. What they were each saying, he wasn't quite sure, but he did manage to pick out a few words here and there. Such as 'reckless', 'stupid', and 'insensitive'. His personal favourite was being told he had the impulse control of a toddler. Think that one was Hermione's. He mused as the yelling began to wind down. He glanced at Ron with a raised eyebrow, silently asking if he wanted a turn.

"I'm good, mate," Ron shrugged once the yelling had stopped. "Pretty sure this lot already covered everything."

"Fair enough," Leo replied, sitting on the table and ignoring the scathing look he received from Hermione. "Well, I suppose you lot are wondering what happened. Long story short, I beat Greyback and I now have a werewolf army."

He grinned at the expressions of shock around the table before launching into his tale. There were snickers from Ron and Harry as he told them about Toby – the werewolf who blatantly hit on him. Eyerolls came from everyone when he spoke of antagonizing Greyback and there were various winces as he talked about the battle. He lifted his shirt, showing many scars covering his chest as well as the three on his forehead covered by his bangs. The bite on his arm drew looks of worry, but he assured them that he wouldn't be turning into a werewolf given he had been in his Animagus form at the time. He rounded off his narrative by explaining his being chosen as Alpha and the werewolf spies he now had in Voldy's army.

"... As much as I hate to say it, you actually did a good job, Leo," Hermione finally said.

"'Good'? He did brilliant, Hermione!" Ron laughed. "Now we've got spies in You-Know-Who's army and he doesn't even know!"

"Reckon Moony would be pleased," Harry grinned.

Leo felt pride flood through him at these words.

"Looks like you're building your army of monsters, Black," Draco remarked. "Just like you said you would -"

"They're not monsters," Leo snapped, eyes narrowing. "I won't allow you or anyone else to call them that. Got it?"

They all stared at him, surprised at his sudden change in demeanour before they all nodded slowly. His smile then returned and he clapped his hands before moving on to the next order of business – their break-in at Gringotts.