Disclaimer: I wish.
A/N: Okay, milk and cookies to BOTH of the people who reviewed before I posted this new one. The rest of you, shape up! Please. Unless something else bites me later, this will be the final chapter (dum dum duum…), and I certainly hope you enjoyed the ride. Please review, and for anyone reading this in time to come, please drop a line. Even though it's finished, I'll still be checking back on it, and I really do love to know what people think. Thank you guys for being so great, and special acknowledgements are at the bottom. And I'm sorry for it being so long since I last updated; things have been really rough on a personal level recently, and it took me some time to work through them enough to give this story the optimism it deserved.
Chapter Sixteen: Pack Song
Callum whined and scratched at his ear, trying to relieve the burning itch. Of all the dangerous things inhabiting the Forbidden Forest, fleas had to be the most irritating. They were so very ordinary, and yet you simply couldn't ignore them. He tensed and crouched low to the ground as he heard the barest of sounds sliding through the underbrush, his teeth bared in a silent snarl.
A beautiful white wolf, only discernible from the snow by her amber brown eyes, emerged into the clearing, shaking the moisture from her thick fur. She trotted over to him and nuzzled him in the side, an affection he returned. Together, they waited for third member of their pack, their alpha. Only a few heartbeats later, the large grey wolf left the shield of trees and joined them.
They were an odd assortment, had there been any there to see them. The two greys did not look like normal wolves; they were a little too elongated, their muzzles not quite the right shape, not all of their joints the same as their kindred's. Golden eyes gleamed under the full moon, and Remus prowled over to his mate to lightly nip at her white ears.
She made a low sound deep in her throat, and his tongue lolled out in a lupine chuckle. Throwing back his head, he howled into the darkness, and the hunt began. They took to their paws and raced through the trees, heedless of the twigs and branches reaching and clinging, their powerful bodies surging across the distance in graceful blurs. They had no prey this night, simply the joy of the hunt, and they reveled in it, the pack song singing in their blood and their brains.
Ginny barked a warning when the pre-dawn sky began to lighten, and all three wolves went flying back towards the castle, speeding against the rising sun. They found the small side door that had been left open for them and they snuck through the halls with practiced ease. No student should have been awake, and certainly not out of bed, but still…it never hurt to be careful.
Whining, Remus scratched at the wall beside his portrait and sank back on his haunches, waiting not so patiently. The sun was climbing higher, and it would only be a matter of minutes before it came over the horizon. He didn't particularly want to transform out in the hallway.
A sleepy Hermione answered the door and let them in, waving to them before trudging off towards the dungeons. She'd agreed to spend the full moon nights to be there for them in the morning, but there was a warm bed and a warmer body that she was looking forward to returning to.
Callum padded off to his room, stretching out languidly on the rug for those last few moments. Ginny and Remus watched him go, Remus nosing the door closed after him, and the pair headed into Remus' bedroom. Ginny slid easily into her human form, shedding the white fur of the wolf without a moment's difficulty, and poured out a measure of pain-relieving potion as Remus made the transformation back. The changes didn't hurt nearly as much as they always had, but his body still wasn't meant to change in quite that manner, and the potion helped. He drank it down and set the goblet on the nightstand, taking the young woman into his arms and holding her close.
"Good morning," he murmured in her ear, his breath tickling the sensitive flesh.
"Morning," she giggled, shrugging her shoulder to try and protect her senses.
He kissed her softly and she relaxed into him, shivering as his teeth nipped at her lower lip. Her nails dug into his arms as he deepened the kiss, gently pushing her back towards the bed. She tumbled into it gladly, pulling him down after her.
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Molly Weasley was beyond angry. It wasn't that she was a busybody, it was simply that it there was a single piece of information about any of her children, she wanted to be the first to know. All it had taken to send her screaming for the Floo powder had been a single comment overheard completely by chance, and she was on her way to Hogwarts without a second thought. She passed gaggles of students relaxing in the early May sun and didn't even stop to say hello to a slightly puzzled Albus Dumbledore, heading directly to the rooms of her youngest child and only girl.
"Ginevra Weasley, you open this door this instant!" she cried, glaring at the guardian sphinx. The sphinx simply stared back.
The door opened slowly, and a small head poked its way out, blue and grey eyes wide. "Mizzus Weasley?"
"Oh, hello, Callum, dear," she gushed, instantly sweetness and maternal warmth. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," he answered slowly, watching her thoughtfully. "Are you looking for Ginny?"
"Yes, dear, is she in?"
"No, ma'am, she's on duty in the infirmary. I'm just practicing on her piano. She's been teaching me to play," he added proudly.
"Thank you, Callum." The short, plump woman kissed the boy's cheek and left him standing in the open door, her mind set on one single thing: find Ginny and get answers.
The infirmary was, thankfully, empty of students when Molly stormed in, startling the pair of mediwitches standing near a desk. Ginny's brows contracted swiftly, staring at the irate woman. "Mum?" she asked in confusion.
"Don't you 'mum' me, Ginevra Weasley," she snapped, not even noticing as Poppy beat a swift, graceful retreat into her office. "What in the name of all that's magical is in your head!"
"Mum, what are you talking about?"
"I'M TALKING ABOUT REMUS LUPIN!" Molly screeched, and Ginny paled instantly, clutching the edge of her desk for support.
"Oh, good god," she gasped. "Mum-"
"My youngest child, my only baby girl, is in love, with a man more twice her age, who nearly KILLED her back at Halloween, who was her former PROFESSOR, and I have to find out by OVERHEARING BILL AND CHARLIE!" The woman's voice, which had started out more or less calmly, for Molly, rose steadily in both pitch and volume, until it was all Ginny could do to not cover her ears and wince. Well, she did wince.
"Mum, sit down," she said firmly, when her mother had to stop and take a breath. Surprised, Molly obeyed, and Ginny pulled her chair in front of the woman, holding her hands tightly. "Firstly, I'm not entirely sure how Bill and Charlie would have found out anything, but I'm not going to ask that at the moment. Secondly, yes, Mum, I am in love with Remus, and no, this is not some silly infatuation. I love him. He completes me, he is the only person I could imagine spending the rest of my life with, but it's been a rough road. He's never believed himself worthy of that kind of love, and it's been hard for him to accept mine and allow himself to feel his own regard for me. I think we both know that age has nothing to do with it. If we were muggles, with no reason to expect to live past eighty or so, then yes, twenty years would be a big deal. We're not muggles. Number three, Remus is not the one who nearly killed me; the werewolf is, the werewolf that was driven mad with pain due to a failed potion. That is something I absolutely forbid you to hold against Remus. Everything that happened that night was an unfortunate series of circumstances that joined together in the worst ways possible. Number four, you said it yourself: my former professor. As in, no longer my professor, as in, no longer taboo. As for the last bit…" she took a deep breath and looked her frantic mother straight in the eyes. "I didn't tell you because I wanted everything to be certain when I did. Remus was so terribly hot and cold for a while, and we all know how you're going to treat someone who hurts any of your children, and I didn't want that to happen to Remus." She smiled sadly. "He and Callum were going to come with me to the Burrow when school got out and we were going to tell you then."
"You were?"
Ginny nodded solemnly.
Molly's mind was whirling, but she was an intelligent woman, for all her frequent histrionics, and she could see the absolute truth and sincerity shining in her daughter's warm amber eyes. After a few moments of letting the wheels spin, she sighed and grabbed her daughter in a rib-crushing embrace. "You silly girl," she mumbled, eyes starting to tear up. "If you really do love him, then I couldn't be happier for you, I just wish you'd TOLD me!"
Laughing, Ginny hugged her mother back and scooted slightly away to recover her breath. "Look at it this way, Mum: I could have picked Draco. Ow!" She rubbed the side of her head with a injured pout, but Molly's smack had only been half-hearted and they both knew it.
"I think I may have scared poor Albus half to death," Molly noted ruefully.
"It's healthy for him. Keeps him on his toes."
Rising to her feet, Molly planted a kiss on the young woman's forehead. "I have to get back to the Burrow, now, dear, I don't want dinner to burn, but we'll see you, all of you, next week?"
"Absolutely, Mum."
Ginny bemusedly watched her mother walk out of the infirmary, her keen senses letting her know when the office door opened and Poppy's taffeta skirts bustled sedately out. "It's safe now, I promise," she called, and her mentor came to her side.
"What on earth was that about?" the old Hufflepuff wondered.
"Somehow she found out about me and Remus," Ginny answered calmly. "It's okay, though; the trick to dealing with my mother is not letting her get into full swing. Once she hits that peak, there's no going back, but distract her before she gets there and she turns into a purring kitten."
"So I'm not going to have to worry about reassembling our DADA professor?" Poppy asked with a small smile, and Ginny just grinned.
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"You know," Remus commented casually, as he watched Ginny tuck Callum into bed. "I haven't noticed you having any nightmares recently."
"They haven't been nightmares recently," she replied, smoothing the auburn curls that fell across the sleeping boy's face. "I still have the dreams, but…" she shrugged and led Remus out of the room, closing the door firmly behind them. "They're only dreams, now."
"Really?"
She sat down on the couch and stared down at her hands. They were still cold, always cold, but they didn't capture her attention quite as much as they used to, they no longer became her only focus when she was upset of distracted. "I still hear him," she elaborated quietly, sensing rather than seeing him sit next to her. "I can still hear Tom in my head, laughing at me, insulting me…but it doesn't frighten me like it used to. It's something that'll never go away, like Harry's scar, but it can't ever consume me again." She looked up at him finally and gave him a crooked smile. "Tom had so much power over me because he made me believe that he was the only one who cared about me. I know that's not so."
"Do you indeed?" he asked mischievously, trapping her hand between his to warm it.
"Not when you act like that," she retorted impishly, and he laughed. "Get this out of your system now, boyo, or be prepared to explain to my mother why you know my sleeping and dreaming habits."
That made his laughter die out mid-chuckle, and he stared at her with apprehension. "She's going to kill me when she finds out, isn't she?"
"She's not going to kill you, and she already knows."
"How does she know?"
"Apparently something Bill saw back in November gave him the idea that we loved each other, he mentioned it to Charlie, and Mum overheard."
"Huh." He stroked the inside of her wrist absently as he mulled over this new information. "I would've thought she'd make more of a scene than that."
"She did."
"Ah."
Staring down at her smooth skin, he failed to see the wicked gleam enter into her eyes. "It's my brothers you have to worry about, ever since Hermione showed them her cricket bat. They seem to think that it would be a wonderful thing to use on anyone who ever hurt their little sister, and they've all agreed to take turns so that everyone can have a share in the fun."
"You had so better be joking."
She merely smiled serenely.
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Callum walked downstairs with Remus and Ginny as he did every morning, but this was a special morning, because it was the last day the students would be there. They were going to go to the Burrow tonight and stay there for a week before returning to Hogwarts, and Ginny's brothers had promised to include him in the family Quidditch games. Lost in pleasant daydreams of flying again, he bumped hard into his guardian when the man stopped abruptly. "What's wrong?" he asked, rubbing his nose.
Remus didn't answer immediately, but when he did, Callum immediately took note of the protective concern underlying his voice. "I think you have visitors," he answered cryptically.
Callum peeked between the two bodies and froze.
In the entrance hall, between the end of the stairs and the large double doors, stood three people. A tall man, with mahogany hair and grey eyes, stern and unyielding; a slender woman with platinum blond hair and pale brown eyes, willowy and red-eyed; and a young woman with glacier blue eyes and her mother's hair, biting her lower lip in an unaccustomed show of anxiousness. Callum knew that if she'd been sitting, she would have been crossing and re-crossing her ankles, something he'd teased her for at family dinners. Cautiously, his nostrils flaring as he took in the once-familiar scents that he'd never paid so much attention to before, he came out from behind Remus and Ginny and slowly descended the rest of the stairs.
"Mother," he acknowledged dispassionately. "Father."
"Callum!" His mother flew forward and threw her arms around him, holding him close. He was more than a little startled; this was not something he'd ever come to expect from the woman who'd given him birth. They'd exchanged many letters since his birthday, each one promising that she was working on his father and would try to see him soon, but the next would give the same oath, and he'd stopped putting hope in it. He hugged her back tentatively and felt her relax into the embrace, and as soon as she let go, he found himself in the much more natural hold of Heidi.
As if on cue, the two women backed away, and he was left standing and staring at the patriarch of their family, the head of their line.
Tyr Sleipak was no stranger to intimidation, and he regarded his only son with a scowl. He felt a small rush of pride when the boy simply looked back at him, not scared in the least. Grey and blue odd eyes held much more wisdom than they should at that age, but the child had always been bright. The silence stretched out between them, until, to his distinct surprise, Tyr found himself becoming uncomfortable.
Callum had learned the art of the hunt in the five months following Ginny's recovery, and in so doing, had learned patience. They were on his territory, surrounded by his pack; his father would be the one to cave in. In this case, the nine year old boy was clearly the alpha.
Remus resisted the urge to snort into his hands, barely, and Ginny hid a small smile. Their cub was growing up.
Finally, Tyr lost, and he looked down at the polished marble of the hall. "I'm sorry, son," he said quietly. "If you'd like to come home, you'd be welcome." He looked back into his son's eyes. "You've been missed."
Callum felt an unexpected pang in his heart. Truth be told, he hadn't really thought all that much of home recently. Home was with pack, with Remus and Ginny. But he could also tell, with all the instincts of his pureblood lineage, how much it had cost his father to say that, and he therefore gave himself plenty of time to think before replying.
"You've been missed as well," he answered softly. "But I think it best if I stay here, with Professor Lupin and Professor Snape. It's simply a safer, and easier arrangement. But," he continued, hearing his mother's breath hitch. "I would like to be able to visit. I still want to come home," he finished, forgiving himself the small lie. Heidi smirked at him; she had seen the truth in her visits with him, but she was as protective of their family as he was of his pack, and she understood.
Tyr nodded thoughtfully and closed the distance between himself and his former heir. He didn't hug him, that would have been both completely foreign and far beneath his dignity, but he stretched out a hand and tightly squeezed the boy's shoulder, letting that say what he never could. Callum smiled up at him and nodded.
Remus and Ginny left him there in the entrance hall with his family by blood, continuing on into the Great Hall and taking their customary seats at the High Table. When Callum joined them several minutes later, he was alone, but content.
"You're sure?" was all Remus asked.
"I'm sure," Callum answered, taking a large bite of crispy bacon. "They would try, a little, but they wouldn't understand. And I am home.
"I'm with pack."
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