Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that you recognize.

A/N: I am sorry that it has taken so long for me to update. It has been a long couple of months. My grandmother died at the end of last month after slowly going down hill after her open-heart surgery in Sept. and then on top of that my mother has MS and has not been doing well lately. It has just been a really trying couple of months and I haven't had the time to sit down and write. But hopefully now I will be able to get a chapter out at least once a month. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Twenty: Life-Mates

Lucian was the first one of the group to snap out of his shock-induced stupor from Remus's surprising announcement. He had no idea what a life-mate was but from everyone else's reaction it was something important. Something deep inside him stirred as if trying to tell him something. Pushing down that feeling he turned toward Remus.

"What exactly is a life-mate?" He asked Remus as he glanced at his fathers flushed face. Whatever it was his father didn't seem too upset over it.

Remus cleared his throat nervously, he had hoped that Lucian had read somewhere about werewolves and their mates but it seemed that the books that the boy had read were severely lacking in the proper information. It was no wonder that the wizarding world was so ill informed about werewolves. He should have realized after Lucian's questions last night in the kitchen.

Taking a deep breath he began the explanation. "The term 'Life-Mate' means exactly what the word implies. Severus and I are essentially bound to each other for the rest of our lives."

Lucian seemed slightly puzzled by this explanation. "Bound as in how exactly?" he wondered if it was anything like a marriage bond. He hated not knowing things that could affect him.

Remus smiled and sat down next to Severus as he graciously accepted a cup of coffee from Lucius. Sipping the hot beverage cautiously he gathered his thoughts wondering how he was going to explain it in the simplest way with out screwing it all up.

"Think of it this way. Werewolves are similar to regular wolves in many aspects. Wolves have packs with an Alpha male that is the leader and that male has a mate, which he stays with for the rest of his life. It is the same for us. Werewolves mate for life just as wolves do but with the exception that our mates don't have to be of the opposite sex as it is with me and most likely with you as well. We are bound to our mates for life once we have marked them.

When this happens we are extremely protective of our mates and would kill anyone or anything that has harmed them in any way. It is the same thing with our packs. Right now I am the alpha male of my pack which consists of Severus as my mate, you and Draco would be considered pups and Lucius is another adult male who is a caregiver."

Remus took another sip of his coffee glancing around the table gauging what Draco and Lucius thought of being included in his pack. He was surprised to see Lucius's normally stoic expression gone and a slight smile gracing his lips. Draco looked as if none of that information was new to him. Lucian was looking intently into his glass of orange juice.

"Have you understood everything that I have told you so far?" Remus asked Lucian. He wanted to make sure that the boy understood everything that he was being told before Remus continued.

Lucian shook his head. So far he had understood what Remus was saying and most of it had made sense. He did have a couple of questions but he figured that Remus would answer them eventually and if he didn't he would just have to ask.

Remus smiled and took another sip of his rapidly cooling coffee. "Ok then lets continue shall we?"

"Werewolves select their mates usually by scent, much in the same manner of many other magical creatures."

Lucian glanced at his father and noticed that sometime during Remus's explanation he had laid his hand on top of Remus's in a show of comfort and support. Lucian smiled at the gesture. He knew there wasn't another person out there who could be better for his father than Remus. Getting his mind back on the discussion at hand he decided that he should ask one of his questions now.

"Will this happen to me?" he asked thinking of how devastated he would be if Draco weren't his mate. His stomach started aching at just the thought of him and Draco not being together. Lucian looked over at his boyfriend and noticed the drawn expression and he knew that Draco was thinking the same thing.

Remus looked Lucian directly in the eyes. "More than likely and it will probably be soon if it hasn't already happened." He said thinking back to when he and Severus had been in school.

When he had been told of Sirius's prank against Severus he had originally thought that he had lunged at Severus because the wolf inside him had wanted to kill him but now that he thought back on it he imagined that the wolf was just wanting to mark his life-mate. He would have to talk to Severus tonight when they had some time alone together.

Severus's head had snapped up toward his son at Remus's mention that he would go through the same thing if he hadn't already. He definitely needed to sit the boy down and talk to him about his relationship with Draco.

Lucian was beginning to really worry about this whole life-mate thing. He had no idea how you mark you mate or even if you had any control in who it was that you marked.

Remus cleared his throat bringing Lucian's attention back to him. "There is something that you must remember at all times. If it is found out that a werewolf has marked someone, as his life-mate the British Ministry will execute the werewolf and their mate, as well as any children they have together on the basis that it is illegal for a werewolf to marry or have children." Remus said softly.

Lucian was horrified, granted it shouldn't surprise him after the latest ministry policy of 'get registered and tagged or be killed'. But to hear that they would actually kill any children born to a werewolf is something that he couldn't wrap his mind around.

"Why would they kill innocent children?" he asked his voice trembling. He had thought that Voldemort was the one that he had to fear but he was beginning to understand why so many labeled "Dark Creatures" allied themselves with the proverbial 'dark side'.

Remus took a deep breath as he felt Severus squeeze his hand reassuringly. "For the simple fact that when a werewolf takes a life-mate that mate is immune to lycanthropy and can become pregnant regardless if they are male or female. When the child is born the lycanthropic gene stays dormant until the child is ten years old thus no transformations. When they come of age for the gene activates and the transformations begin. The transformations are painless and the child is able to keep their own mind with out the aid of the Wolfsbane potion." He finished as he caught a slight smile on his mates face. This made him wonder if having a child was something that his mate was thinking of.

"The reason the ministry is so against this is because they would have to let the public know that there is another class of werewolves, a class that would be no danger to anyone. And because of this they would have to rewrite laws to let them have the same rights and privileges that any other witch and wizard have. Then on top of that they wouldn't be able to classify these werewolves as Dark Creatures; this would bring in a lot of other magical creatures in wanting the same rights."

Lucian just sat there with his head in his hands thinking over everything that he had learned. But there was just one little question that was niggling at the back of his head.

"How do you mark you life-mate and can you control who you mark?" he asked just as his father was about to stand.

Remus ran his hand through his sandy gray hair as he glanced at Severus who just smiled as if saying that he was the expert he gets to explain.

"No you can't control who you mark. While in your wolf form you would have an overwhelming urge to find and mark your mate. It wouldn't matter if your mate was in human form or an animagus form. You would not be able to control the urge and if your mate were there with you, you would assert your dominance over them by pinning them down. When it comes to marking them literally you would bite down at the juncture between their neck and shoulder. Your magic would fuse with theirs binding them to you for life…" he stopped talking when he notice Lucian's head shoot up and Draco's hand reflexively clamp over his shoulder.

Both boys paled dramatically as they looked at each other.

Remus stood up quickly and walked briskly to Draco. "Let me see." He said softly.

Draco pulled his shirt off to the side revealing a light silver scar that was definitely in the shape of a bite mark.

"When did it happen?" Lucius asked quietly. He wasn't exactly upset just concerned at what could happen if it was ever discovered that Draco was a life-mate to a werewolf. He loved his son and he would fight for him come hell or high water.

Draco smiled slightly at Lucian before he turned back toward his father. "Last year around during the Christmas holidays."

Remus glanced at Severus wondering what was going through his head. He was scared for both boys but he was happy that Lucian was able to find his mate. "Does anyone know of the mark?"

Draco shook his head, "No."

"Good lets keep it that way." Severus spoke up for the first time since Remus had begun the conversation. He then looked at his son. "You and I need to have a very serious conversation."

Lucian nodded his head nervously but he couldn't help but to feel relived that Draco was his mate.

"Now, since that is taken care of we need to figure out to disguise Remus so he doesn't get registered by the ministry. Because if he is registered and tagged they will be able to tell that he has marked someone, then we will be in a world of shit. I don't think we need to worry too much about Lucian and Draco being found out at this time." Severus said as he stood and got a cup of coffee and refilled Remus's cup.

Lucius looked slightly confused. "Why wouldn't we have to worry about Lucian and Draco? I think that with them being around so many students someone is bound to figure something out."

Severus smiled, "The only time that they are going to be around the rest of the student body is during classes. They will not be staying in the dorms; Albus has already agreed to let them stay in our quarters for their protection against being attacked from students that are sympathetic to the Dark Lord." He said watching Lucius smile.

"My, my we have just thought of everything haven't we." Lucius said teasingly to Severus who just smirked in response. He stood up and walked over to his son.

"No matter what happens I will always be there for you." He said as he pulled his son toward him in a warm embrace. "Although I think that we could definitely wait awhile before you two give us any grandchildren."

Lucian and Draco both blushed and Draco ducked out from under his father and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. Draco's arm brushed up against Lucian's bruised arm causing him to hiss in pain at the contact.

Draco pulled back sharply.

"What's wrong?"

Lucian pulled his outer robe off and lifted the sleeve of his shirt up showing the purple bruise in the shape of a large hand.

"What the Hell is that! Who did this to you? " Draco gasped.

Severus walked up to his son and gingerly took his arm in his hand so that he could see the extent of the bruising. "Is this from the Auror yesterday?" he asked as Remus came up behind him to see what it was they were talking about.

Lucian looked down at the ground, "Yeah."

Draco and Lucius's eyes narrowed almost perfectly at the same time.

"What Auror?" Remus growled wanting to know who had hurt his pup. He was starting to get very angry until he felt Severus's hand rest lightly on his shoulder. It calmed him almost immediately.

"Yesterday an Auror accosted Lucian after we were separated. When the Auror learned Lucian's name he felt that he should find out if Lucian was a death eater and forced his sleeve up trying to find the dark mark. It was at that time that I had seen what was happening and pulled the Auror away from Lucian. He then threatened to investigate Lucian's background." Severus told the rest of the group.

He knew that Remus's disguise wasn't the only thing that they needed to come up with. He needed to somehow come up an antidote to veritiserum, because he knew that was going to be the only way that they were going to be able to get through a ministry investigation.

Severus stood up quickly startling the small group. "Well what are we waiting for lets get to work."

Lucian looked at his father with fake concern and then turned to Draco. "I think its official."

Draco glanced at Severus and back to Lucian. "What's official?"

Lucian smirked at his father's scowl. "My father has lost his bloody mind."

Draco looked back at his boyfriend like he was crazy, "You are just now figuring that out, and here I was thinking you were smart." He said but as soon as he saw the glint in Lucian's eyes he took off running for the bedroom transforming mid run so that he would be able to dive under the bed to get away.

Lucian took off after his ferret of a boyfriend and just as reached the bedroom he saw Draco trying to dive under his bed. With his seeker reflexes combined with his werewolf agility he managed to snag the wayward ferret just before he disappeared under the bed.

"Oh you naughty, naughty boy…" Lucian said as he shut the door to his room effectively cutting off what he was saying from the prying ears of the adults.

Lucius glanced from the shut door to Severus and Remus and back to the door. Remus just started snickering and mumbling something to the effect of "They are your sons, no relation to me what so ever."