To Howl in Harmony
Chapter 2: Mother Weasley
Ten minutes later found the group settled about Dumbledore's office, Harry still gazing at his parents in shock. He clutched Ginny's hand tightly in his own, as if she were his lifeline to reality. Sensing his distress, Fawkes flew from his perch, taking up residence on the boy's knee. Harry's hand came automatically up to stroke the bird's feathers.
"What the hell is going on?" Remus suddenly demanded.
Sirius gave a slight growl of anger, directed towards the elder Potters, as he said sarcastically, "Oh, haven't you heard? Lily and James were never dead! They were hiding!"
"What?" Harry demanded angrily, snapping out of his shock as his eyes glowed.
"We were scared," Lily interrupted, "We couldn't deal with having to look over our shoulders all the time to make sure he wasn't there!"
"So you just left me?" Harry asked, eyes glowing angrily, "Like so much garbage! What kind of fucking parents are you?"
"Harry!" James frowned, "Watch your language!"
"Oh, go fuck yourself! I'll swear all I fucking want!" Harry hissed.
"Harry James Potter!" Lily warned.
"Don't!" Harry growled, "Don't. You are not my parents! Parents don't leave their kids behind to get totally fucked over by some overgrown bully!"
"We were scared!" Lily protested.
"Scared!" Harry spat contemptuously, "The shit you went through with him is nothing compared to my fucking life! You were full fucking grown adults and I was an eleven-year-old boy! I've been so scared sometimes that I thought it would have just been easier to kill my own damn self
"But I didn't 'cause I'm not a goddamned coward. I would never, ever, leave behind my friends or family. And none of them would leave me either. It's kind of pathetic, don't you think, that a group of 15 and 16 year olds are braver than you are?"
"Harry-"
"Just piss off James," Sirius warned angrily.
"What the hell?" James exploded, "You're supposed to be my best friend-glad that I'm alive, and instead you're freezing me out!"
"Could you really blame him Potter?" Snape asked silkily, raising one eyebrow, "After all you did to him and his…boyfriend."
"Get lost Snivellus, you're not wanted here!" James hissed back angrily.
"Shut up!" Harry snapped at him, "Professor Snape is wanted around here much more than you are!"
James and Lily looked stricken, but Harry wasn't done.
"I was always so proud to have the two of you as my parents. I was a bit ashamed last year, when I discovered what a bully James was as a teen, but I still loved you both, was still proud to be a Potter. But that shame was nothing compared to what I feel now. To have two such cowardly people as parents is an embarrassment.
"Do you know what your cowardice did to us? You left Remus to believe he was all alone in the world, that his mate was a murderer, a betrayer. You left Sirius to spend 13 years in Azkaban, for a crime he did not commit, which warped his mind into believing your deaths really were his fault. And you left me.
"You left me to be raised by a pair of magic-hating Muggles whose favourite thing to do was to put me down, just for being who I am. You left me to fight off Voldemort when I was 11, 12, 14 and 15. You left me to have no fucking clue what love meant until I was eleven.
"Do you want to know who did teach me? Raise me? The Weasleys. They taught me how to love, how to laugh, how to be happy! You're not my family. They are."
"But Harry-"
"I think you should shut up now, Mrs. Potter." Ron cut in angrily, glaring furiously at the older woman.
"You two have fucked up Harry's life enough as it is, don't you think?" Hermione sneered, her lips curling in distaste.
"We were frightened!" Lily wailed desperately, trying to make them see.
Harry snarled, "So then go the fuck away. If you couldn't handle it 15 years ago, after Voldemort was gone, then you won't be able to handle it now-and we don't need spineless cowards. Every other person in this room has much more to be scared of then you.
Pointing to Snape, he said, "A spy in Voldemort's inner circle who risks his neck at every meeting, hoping only to keep others from that snake." At Dumbledore and McGonagall, "Prominent leaders of the Light side, who've never hid their beliefs." To Draco, "A Malfoy who turned his back on his family, on their beliefs to join me." To Rose and Hermione, "Muggleborns much stronger and much more intelligent than any Pureblood." To Neville, "A young man whose parents he's sworn to avenge against the dark side." To Luna, "A young woman whose father openly defies the Dark in his magazine, a magazine she herself openly supports," to Ron and Ginny, "Members of the Weasley family, a family that's always been open about their beliefs of equality among all." To Sirius and Remus, "Open defiers of the Dark side." Back to Ginny, "The love of my life." To himself, "The number one on Voldemort's to-hit list.
"Not one of us has ever run. We have more courage than that. We have more integrity. We want our freedom, we want our rights, and, unlike you, we're willing to fight for that! To fight for the lives of ourselves and our loved ones!"
As he'd been talking, Harry's anger had been fueling his magic, and he was slowly losing control. Emerald light was slipping from his core to surround his body brightly, while the matching eyes glowed furiously with anger.
"Harry-" Lily started again.
"Shut up!" Rose yelled at her, cutting her off to prevent Harry's anger from rising as Ginny moved to stand directly in front of Harry's face.
"Why-I never!"
"Shut up!" Luna hissed angrily, eyes snapping at the woman, "If Harry gets any angrier, loses anymore of his control, you will all be killed!"
"Harry-Harry listen to me!" Ginny said desperately, ignoring the conversation around her, all her attention focused only on her mate, "Harry, you have to calm down-you have to regain control!"
But Harry hadn't seemed to hear her. His anger still glowed, his eyes still snapped and he hadn't even looked down at the petite redhead. In a desperate attempt, Ginny pulled back her hand and hit Harry forcefully across the face.
With a start, Harry's eyes flew to Ginny. As angry emerald met scared, but loving, brown. The anger seeped from his eyes, while the magic returned to its rightful place. With a grateful sob, Ginny threw herself into Harry's arms.
Holding her smaller frame to him tightly, Harry buried his head in her hair, saying, "Oh, God, Cannon, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it honeylove, I'm sorry. So sorry."
"I was scared Harry," she whispered back, her head buried against his shoulder, "So scared that I was losing you."
"I'm sorry, honeylove, God I'm sorry."
"I love you, Sparky."
"I love you to, baby, I love you too." He murmured, kissing the crown of her head gratefully.
Ginny held on tightly for a few more moments, before reluctantly letting go. Harry, however, had other ideas, and pulled her back into his arms. Sweetly, their lips met in a slow, loving kiss as they forgot about the others in the room.
"Feel better?" Harry asked softly as the kiss broke.
Ginny nodded contentedly, letting him take all her weight as she leaned gratefully against her Harry. From around him, the Pack gave sighs of relief, secure now in the knowledge that their alpha had regained control-it wasn't often that Harry lost control, but when he did, it was…messy, to say the least.
The moment was interrupted, however, as the fire glowed green. The two youngest Weasleys, Hermione and Harry paled visibly as out of the fireplace stepped Molly Weasley, Arthur and the twins following momentarily behind her, looking decidedly delighted.
"H-Hullo, Mum," Ron offered hesitantly into the tense silence as Molly glared at them.
"'Hullo, Mum'? That's all I get?" Molly shrieked angrily, eyes narrowed as she glared daggers at them, "You get yourselves captured by You-Know-Who and go through only-Merlin-knows-what, only to escape almost a month later and disappear! And all I get is a hullo mum?
"Ooh, I ought to tan all four of your backsides, as well as the others for good measure! You stupid, idiotic children! What a foolish thing to do!" and suddenly Molly was in tears.
Stepping forward, she flung her arms about her two youngest, blubbering unabashedly. She pulled back a few moments later only to give Hermione the same treatment, then Harry, who reciprocated the hug fiercely.
"Blimey, mate," Fred said, clapping Harry on the shoulder as his mother released him.
"Why do you get all the fun-" George demanded with a grin, clapping his other shoulder.
"While we always-"
"Get left behind?"
Harry laughed heartily, giving each twin a hug in turn. As Fred and George moved on to tease Ron and Hermione, Harry found himself faced with Arthur Weasley.
"Harry, my boy," Arthur said, love and pride shining in his eyes, "It's good to see you."
Harry grinned back and was given a hug to rival Molly Weasley's. After only a moment's shock, Harry returned the hug just as fiercely. Arthur moved on moments later and Harry found himself once again facing Molly Weasley.
As mother hen as ever, she declared, "I do wish there was something we could do about that hair, dear. I'm afraid it may never lay flat. But really Harry! Pink tips? Couldn't you have done something less…atrocious? I suspect you all ended up doing it on a dare or something equally ludicrous." She made a few tutting noises before saying in a satisfied voice, "Well, at least you've filled out, dear. And you've grown quite a bit, too. I dare say no one will believe you used to be such a scrawny, tiny little thing."
Harry laughed lightly, "Oh, don't worry Mrs. Weasley, I'm sure we could scrounge up a few pictures as proof."
Molly laughed back before sighing gently, saying seriously, "Dear, you really must stop calling me Mrs. Weasley. I've known you much too long, and you're too much a part of this family to be so formal," she paused nervously, "I-I'd like it very much if you'd call me Mum, as my other children do."
Tears filled Harry's eyes and he felt his throat clog with emotion. Wrapping his arms around Molly tightly, he whispered into her ear brokenly, "I'd be honoured…Mum."
Molly pulled back a few moments later, brushing briskly at the tears on her face before catching sight of Remus. Giving the older man a beaming smile, she hugged him tightly, saying, "Why, hello, Remus dear. You look much better than when I last saw you."
Remus hugged and smiled back, before throwing a loving look Sirius' way, answering, "It's much to do with being back with my mate, Molly."
Molly smiled, patting his arm gently as she said, "It's lovely to see you smile again dear, it makes you look so handsome. You should do it more."
Turning to Sirius, she regarded him closely, then nodded satisfactorily, "You're looking well, my dear. And it's about time too, I dare say."
Sirius grinned affectionately at the Weasley matron, saying, "Thank you Molly. And, might I say you look quite dashing with that new colour in your cheeks and the twinkle in your eyes?"
Molly gave a contented sigh, eyes brimming with love, "Having all my children back is the way to do it, my dear."
"I know," Sirius answered with a soft smile, searching out Harry, who was talking to Snape, "My cub being back is the best thing in the world, rivaled only by the return of my Remus."
On the other side of the room, Severus was saying, "It's about time you were back, Potter."
"Aw, did you miss me Professor?" Harry teased with an impish grin, eyes dancing with laughter.
"Let's just say things aren't as fun without you around, Harry," Severus answered, 'though his obsidian eyes glittered with amusement.
Harry laughed softly, before growing serious saying, "Thanks, Professor, for standing up for us."
"I may not always like you, Potter," Severus said, "But I quite prefer you and your irritating godfather over your cowardly parents."
Harry nodded softly, his gaze involuntarily traveling to those of his blood-parents. AN angry snarl caused his lips to curl but a small hand on his arm distracted him, and he turned to Rose.
Smiling softly at her brother-friend-alpha, she said gently, "It's no use losing control over something you can't change, Greeneyes. I'm not saying to forgive and forget, but I am saying you need to let go of a bit of that anger, otherwise you're going to hurt someone."
Harry sighed and gave his pack-mate a rueful smile, "Thanks Petal. I'll try."
Rose smiled, saying simply, "That's all we can ask for."
Rose drifted back to Draco and Harry's eyes searched out his mate. A loving smile graced his lips as he found her talking to the twins, arms gesturing vigorously, as they always did while she was explaining something. He was making his way towards them when Dumbledore called attention to the room, suggesting the Pack give it's explanation now. The Pack agreed and everyone settled themselves comfortably.
Four couches were conjured, placed in a diamond-like setting. On one couch sat Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lily and James. On the one beside that sat the twins, Sirius and Remus. Across from them sat Neville, Luna, Draco and Rose. Across from Dumbledore's couch sat Molly, Arthur, Severus, Ginny and Ron with Hermione in his lap, head against his chest. Harry sat in the floor against Ginny's legs, his head resting back on her knees as he spoke.
Slowly, he told the tale of the grueling time spent in Voldemort's hands. Each Pack member paled and trembled slightly at the horrible memories, but Harry's strong voice pulled them out of it as he went on to talk of the months spent with the elves-'though he said nothing of how to get to the Realm or anything else that could get any of the others in there. Slowly, the Pack pulled themselves together, using the good memories of the time spent in the Realm to overcome the horrifying time spent with Voldemort.
As Harry brought back the memories, the Pack subconsciously turned to each other for support. On their couch, Neville, Luna, Draco and Rose each clutched an equally shaky hand until the talk turned to the realm, when the hands loosened but didn't let go. On the other couch, Hermione had turned into Ron, clutching loosely at his shirt, while his hands tightened around her waist. And Ginny had slipped to the floor where Harry's arms had promptly enveloped her waist, while her head burrowed into his shoulder.
Nearly half an hour later, the story was finished. Grateful looks crossed the face of each member of the Pack, and they all seemed to slump with the exhaustion of reliving everything.
Finally, Sirius broke the silence, as he jokingly asked, "Oh, is that the end? You sure there's nothing else, like a giant, purple, man-eating tortoise?"
The room erupted in laughter and the tension of the room eased. When the laughter had died down, everyone was much calmer and more at ease.
"Potter," McGonagall said, suddenly thoughtful, "Does that mean that you lot don't need to even finish your Hogwarts education?"
Harry grinned at her, "Why, yes my dear Professor, it does."
"Then why would you come to Hogwarts and not Headquarters?" Snape asked curiously.
Harry gave the man an impish grin as he answered, "Hogwarts gave us a bigger splash then Headquarters would have."
Again the room burst into laughter, but Harry noticed the Headmaster become suddenly pensive. Sobering, he regarded the older man patiently, knowing he'd be told the news, but only once the old man had thought it all through. Noticing Harry's silence as well as his regard of Dumbledore, the Pack, too, quieted, throwing their alpha curious looks as they waited for some kind of explanation.
The rest of the room's occupants stopped laughing as they noticed the others sobriety. In quiet confusion, they glanced back and forth between Dumbledore and Harry.
At one point, the twins attempted to break the silence. They were silenced immediately, however, by the quelling looks of the others-except for Harry and Dumbledore, whose eyes never left the Headmaster and the wall respectively.
Suddenly, Dumbledore's face brightened and a wickedly impish gleam entered his eyes. Meeting the steady, emerald eyes, he said, "I do believe, my dear boy, that we can keep you on at Hogwarts anyway."
XoXoXoXo
A/N Hey guys, sorry it took me so long, but hey, life's tough! Anyway, thanks to:
Bloodless Ace
Susan Rose Potter: Aw, thanks sweets. I'm sorry it took so long, but between school, work, moving and getting sick I don't have a lot of time!
Athenakitty: well, you'll find out the answers to all those questions soon, huh?
Just me: not really original, but I'm hoping to incorparate the more original stuff later, ya know?
Hermione1208
Dancegirlem24
NamelessHeretic: lolz sorry, not original! But I'm hoping for a more original point with the way Harry reacts and interacts with them.
Quidditchchicky: Ya. I'm getting a lot of grief over the Sirius/Remus pairing, and it wasn't actually supposed to be them together in the first place, but I changed my mind and that's how it ended up! I know, I know, not a really good reason, BUT I'm hoping it gets better(well, I'm hoping the READERS think it gets better lol)
Saunders
Godessa39: lolz I know, my muse runs away sometimes, but he's coming back slowly!
Evyominique: aw, lolz thanks. Love the name by the way, very out there!
So, I will update when I can guys, but until then, just sit tight!
'My love
Red