Harry's Pack
Chapter 9:Returning
Hours, days, weeks and then months passed by. Once a week the Pack would send out a letter to their parents/guardians or (in Harry's case) Dumbledore and the Order. A spell had been put on Hedwig that allowed her to go through the portal easily and without interference.
A few times someone had attempted to place a tracking charm on Hedwig. However, the combined wards of surrounding the High Realm portal as well as the charms on Hedwig cancelled out any and all tracking spells and instead led the caster on a wild goose chase that led nowhere.
Hedwig did, however, bring back letters form the recipients. And, while the location was attempted to be pried from the Pack time and again, they refused to answer the persistent questioning.
Their training was drawing to a close.
They all learned quickly and efficiently and were soon moving on to expand in different subjects like potions, healing and connecting to the elements as well as all the 6th and 7th year material. Soon enough, all their strengths were identified.
Harry and Ginny were the best at any type of combat, surpassing even their trainers. Their only match could be found in each other, and when they worked together, they could be quite the destructive force.
Ron was best at strategy and planning. In any situation, he remained cool and levelheaded, analyzing the scene and coming up with an almost-always-correct way for this side to come out on top.
Hermione, unsurprisingly, excelled at spell creation. With her thirst for knowledge, she easily created the basic concept and could come up with the actual spell within a short period of time.
Neville's biggest strength turned out to be Potions. With a bit of creative thought, he'd started brewing potions that could be helpful in a battle situation- post-crutacious, exploding potions, shrinking, expanding potions, sleeping draughts and even Veritaserum should they need to do some questioning.
Luna turned out to best at Healing. She had a natural knack for it as well as a soothing tough. And, her serene attitude seemed to rub off on her patients, making the whole thing easier.
Draco ended up being the best with dealing with magical creatures. He could tame most any creature and was befriended by most almost instantly.
Rose excelled at the languages and proper greetings and as such was the best for approaching would-be allies. With her honest, straightforward, and yet bubbly, attitude, she won over many of the foreign visitors that came to the Realm.
Emrys, while still loved by the Pack, and vice versa, soon became immersed back into his former life, although he did take a few defense lessons for precautionary reasons.
However, while losing their cub, the Pack had also gained an honorary member in Moony. At first, Harry had tried to set Remus up with various members of the Court, but Remus put a stop to that by explaining that werewolves only ever mate for life, and his mate was gone-Sirius.
Harry hadn't been completely shocked to learn that Remus and Sirius had been mates. Remus had explained that he and Sirius had been together since their seventh year at Hogwarts. When Sirius had escaped Azkaban and proved his innocence, the two Marauders had picked up where they'd left off. Somewhat guiltily, Remus explained that he and Sirius had been unable to tell Harry because they weren't sure how, and then they just kept putting it off until they thought he'd be too mad if they told him then.
"It's alright Moony," Harry had said with a slight shrug, "We're all entitled to our own secrets."
After that, it became easier for Remus to talk about Sirius and Harry found great delight in the tales of the Marauders' school days. The rest of the Pack, too, enjoyed the stories and anecdotes of the pranks the Marauders had played as well as the trouble they'd gotten into by Lily Evans and her fiery temper.
"She sounds like Ginny," Ron had grinned once.
Remus had grinned back, answering simply, "All Potter men somehow manage to fall for a redhead- they're the only ones who can keep up with them!"
The laughter and joy these stories-as well as ones of their own-brought, managed to balance the violent danger they all knew lurked beneath the surface of their lives.
The second day of training, Harry had told them all of the prophecy and it's entire contents. Instantly and simultaneously, they'd all promised to stand by him to the end for as long as they could.
This had earned them Harry's crooked grin and his soft, but proud, "I'd have expected no less from you."
They'd gone around beaming from his praise for days.
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It was a few days before December and the Pack were lounging about in Harry's room on conjured chairs and cushions. They were discussing the lack of replies from the "outside" since about mid-August.
"Maybe they're just miffed at us because we decided not to come home," Ron suggested.
Harry frowned slightly and shook his head, "They didn't put up enough of a fight about that. I mean, come on, since when has Molly Weasley(No offense) or Albus Dumbledore kept their opinions to themselves because it pissed them off?"
"You know," Hermione murmured, "He's got a point. Before like the last week of August, they never stopped telling us we needed to come home."
"Or that we were just children," Draco added lazily.
Ron gave a slight snort in agreement, adding sarcastically, "Because, you know, most children are prime targets of Voldemort."
"And don't forget," Ginny piped up, "only children survive 3 weeks with Tommy boy."
Harry grinned slightly at his Pack's ability to make light of their ruined childhoods. He was about to join in when a breathless elf burst into the room.
"C-Come" gasp, "quick! There's" pant "been an a-attack!" gulp "The Majesties," pant "need you in the, "gasp, gulp, "meeting room."
Harry gave the elf a quick, curt nod of thanks and then the Pack was gone. Running swiftly, they reached the green and silver meeting room no more than two minutes later.
Entering quickly, they were met with the grim faces of the King and Queen. Taking the offered seat, the Pack sat stiffly, tensely and waiting for news.
Since the Pack's escape from his clutches, Voldemort had been fairly quiet. He'd made a few random killings that, while still horrible, were nothing compared to what he could truly do.
By the looks on the King and Queen's faces, he obviously stepped up the attacks.
"It was Diagon Alley," Marday explained finally.
Harry's eyes flashed and his jaw visibly tightened. Around the table the rest of the Pack was having similar reactions. However, they all remained respectfully silent.
"About 100 Death Eaters, as well as a lot of magical creatures. There were at least 200 people in that Alley." Reginald continued softly.
Silence reigned before Harry asked softly, "How many?"
"Harry-" Marday began to protest.
"How. Man?" Harry demanded tersely, eyes flashing coldly.
Reginald sighed, "75 dead and 68 wounded."
"The Death Eaters?"
"Only eight were captured," Marday replied regretfully.
"Aurors and the Order of the Phoenix arrived and managed to drive the rest off," Reginald explained.
"How many of them were lost?"
"2 Aurors you didn't know."
Harry nodded before suddenly yelling, "DAMNIT!" and smashing his fist down on top of the table.
"Excuse me," he said simply, standing and walking form the room , ignoring the splinters in his hand.
Moving swiftly through the halls, he quickly reached the castle doors. Slipping easily into wolf form, he went racing through the surrounding forest. Minutes later, the rest of the wolf-pack joined him and, together they strained themselves to exhaustion in an effort to expend their anger.
More than two hours later, they returned to the castle. Waiting patiently on the front steps was Remus, who vanished his book when he caught sight of them and walked a few meters out of from the castle.
The Pack slipped back into human form and collapsed on the ground at his feet. Silence reigned as they got their breathing under control. After a few minutes, the teens sat up and all nine of them sat in a circle.
Harry ran a frustrated hand through his hair and muttered, "Sadistic bastard."
"Ugly snake," Ginny supplied.
"Anorexic toad," Ron joined.
"Stupid rat's ass," Hermione added.
"Idiotic demon-wannabe," Neville piped up.
"Unintelligent jackass," Luna said.
"Bulimic Goth-wannabe," Draco continued.
"Ape's buttface," Rose said.
All 8 gave her incredulous looks and she shrugged, grinning, "You guys took all the good ones, so I improvised."
All 9 of them dissolved into uncontrollable laughter-as much over Rose's ludicrous statement as there own childishness in calling Voldemort names.
The laughter only lasted a few moments, however, before the real situation seemed to come back to them all at once. Immediately, they all sobered. Almost without thought, they all bowed their heads, and Harry began to speak.
"Dear God, Merlin, Allah, whoever it is that's up there, please hear our prayers," he said softly, "We ask you now to grant safe passage to those innocent souls that were lost to us today in the attack on Diagon Alley. We ask hopefully that you let them through the Gates as a reward for their brave sacrifices today. Please Lord, we beg you, give us the strength and bravery to defeat Voldemort and return this world to peace. Amen."
"Amen," the others murmured softly, and each member of the Pack had to wipe away a tear.
Silence fell again for but a few moments before Remus said softly, "I think it's time for us to go back."
Harry sighed and nodded, running a hand through his hair again as he muttered, "I know."
"I don't want to go back either," Draco offered, "This place holds so many good memories for me."
"This place is like our safe haven," Ginny murmured in agreement.
"Our Garden of Eden," Rose sighed.
"It's…not home exactly, because, to me, 'home' is the same as 'pack'. As long as we have the Pack, we are home." Ron added.
"It's like a security blanket," Neville supplied helpfully.
"You don't need it, but you don't want to give it up," Hermione and Luna finished together.
Harry regarded his Pack with a soft look and supplied, "I'd rather not leave either. The Realm is like out escape from the harsh and unsafe reality."
"But no matter how much you wish or want," Remus said softly, "reality is reality."
"Reality bites," Neville answered.
:Damn straight it does," Harry sighed mournfully.
Harry suddenly felt a smaller hand in his own and he looked down at Ginny. With a soft, loving smile, she said, "We're with you to the end, Harry Potter. We won't back down at we won't give up. You're stuck with us Potter."
Harry chuckled slightly and gave Ginny a soft kiss. With an impish grin, he added, "I don't mind being stuck with you, my dear Ginny. It's the others I could without."
The group chuckled, but quickly grew serious again. Harry sighed and knew that distraction was no longer going to work.
Pulling back his shoulders, his head came up in a way that bespoke of power but not arrogance. Slowly, he let his eyes travel to those of his pack, meeting each gaze levelly, letting them all see the admiration and love he held for each member of his pack.
Sighing almost imperceptibly, he said, "Looks like we're going back to Hogwarts."
The others nodded grimly, accepting the inevitable. However, moments later, Ron gave them all a grin that could rival one of the twins'.
Eyes dancing with mischief, he said, "Then we'll just have to go back in style, won't we?"
Bending forward, Ron quickly outlined his plan for returning with a bang. The others' faces lit up with glee and they were soon anxious to get going.
They were going back to Hogwarts.
THE END
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A/N AHHAHAHAHAH! Lol sorry guys!
The sequel- To Howl in Harmony- will be up sometime next week. Don't leave me hanging!
'My Love,
Red