Fenrir and Harry had been walking for some hours now. Harry almost couldn't believe that it has barely been 24 hours since this whole fiasco started. Admittedly the rollercoaster of emotions made everything feel like a lifetime passed. He was not the same person that woke up yesterday. Hell, he wasn't even the same person who woke up this morning! So much has been changing.
Fenrir definitely wasn't making this situation any easier. He contributed largely to the mixed emotions that Harry was feeling.
They were walking at a sedate pace and Harry couldn't help but question whether Fenrir was delaying them on purpose.
The forest was beautiful. The air was full of bird noises and the gentle noise of the leaves swaying in the breeze.
Harry was trying to shake the beauty of the scenery from his mind and decided to try to fill the air with conversations.
Harry began asking questions.
"So…how did you find me yesterday?"
"I smelled your blood in the air. I prowl through the Forbidden Forest because of the lack of muggles."
"You don't have any problems with the wards?"
"No…they don't do anything to me. Barely noticed them."
Harry took a moment to think about that response. The wards for Hogwarts were supposed to be legendary and for them to be useless against a werewolf was odd. Though Snape did say something about Remus being connected to the flimsy wards. Harry had a hard time thinking of Dumbledore sabotaging the wards, no matter the situation.
"What do you normally do on a full moon? I know that my dad and his friends hung out with Remus when they were younger using their animagus forms."
Fenrir was pleased by his question, glad that he was thinking of being a werewolf and some of the finer details.
"I usually hunt for meat for my pack."
"You hunt for meat in the Forbidden Forest? Isn't that dangerous with all of the centaurs and the acromantulas."
Fenrir gave him a droll stare and deadpanned, "I'm a werewolf."
Harry nodded as if that was the all of the answer that he needed.
"Do you usually hunt so close to the edge of the forest?"
"Of course not. The best game is deep in the forest." Fenrir made a face at the thought of hunting near the edge of the forest. He paused to realize that he didn't have a good excuse for hunting near the edge of the forest to be able to find Harry.
"Uh, I was going for a stroll after a successful hunt."
Harry was confused, "so you caught something and just left it behind?"
Fenrir's ego didn't allow him to claim to not have a successful hunt but he also didn't want to say that he left behind precious meat.
Harry followed up his previous question with a new one, "also, I thought that wolves were pack hunters?"
Fenrir flinched at Harry's questions which were exposing another whole in his story. How was he supposed to keep Harry in the dark about attacking him, if he couldn't lie within the first day.
Harry felt like he could trust Fenrir but at the same he couldn't deny that something wasn't adding up.
He stopped walking and turned to Fenrir.
"Tell me the truth!"
Fenrir could see no way out of this situation. He sighed deeply.
"I suppose the least that I could do is tell you the truth."
Despite his words, Fenrir turned away from Harry and didn't speak for many minutes.
"...I bit you. I smelled your scent and I couldn't resist the urge to bite you."
Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing! This was huge! Fenrir was the one who had bitten him. Harry turned away from Fenrir and walked to the nearest tree. Putting his forehead against the tree, Harry stopped to think everything through.
"You lied! You said you found me, you didn't say that you're the one who turned me!"
Fenrir jerked his head away at the accusation, "I turned you and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again!"
"You asshole! It's not about you turning me, it's about you lying to me! What were you thinking?! Were you ever going to tell me the truth or were you just going to let me think that you just happened to save me."
Harry moved away from the tree and snarled at Fenrir. "You're just like them! All of you just want something from me and you'll do anything to get it."
The snarl of anger soon transitioned to tears, "Doesn't anyone care about what I want? Why can't someone just accept me as I am."
Harry couldn't help but question whether Fenrir would have even looked at Harry if it wasn't for some stupid smell. He sniffed and at the flare of pain in his chest, he turned away from Fenrir and without thinking he ran.
Fenrir felt his instincts rear up at his mate running away. He gave chase after his wayward mate. Fenrir may be a werewolf, but Harry had always been unnaturally fast. He was faster than Fenrir but his tears were blinding him to the obstacles and he tripped over a fallen branch. Sniffling Harry tried to pick himself up but ended up tripping over himself again.
Grabbing Harry by his shoulders, Fenrir gave him a bit of a shake. "Don't be an idiot. I want you the way you are, but when I smelled you I lost my mind. I have been searching for my mate for years and when I smelled you I was overwhelmed. I shouldn't have acted so rashly but I also couldn't really think straight. It's just wolf instincts."
Harry had listened to him and believed him to be genuine but he also was filled with uncertainty.
"I just need to think about this for a moment. Why don't we just set up camp and deal with this later."
Fenrir nodded. His face was blank and Harry didn't want to think about the meaning too much.
Harry found a patch of mostly dry grass to sit on. He couldn't help but think Merlin, this is such a mess with no clear solution.
He couldn't forgive Fenrir too easily because this was serious. His entire life has been changed by this situation. Though if Harry thought about it too long then he had to admit that his life wasn't too hot before this all happened. He was definitely being forced into near death situations year after year. Though Harry knew that half of these situations needed to happen for the better of them all.
Of course, he's afraid that if he forgives Fenrir too easily then how will he know if he will respect Harry the way he thinks he needs to be respected.