Chapter 3
Molly Weasley stood in her kitchen; her own domain. Even with the increase in the size of her family, she still made sure that they were all well fed and cared for. Tonight was the one night in every month when Molly attempted to bring all the family together to share a meal and spend some time together. However as expected there were always members of the large, ever growing family, that were unable to attend the meal.
Tonight, even with the absences, there was still a large meal to prepare. Bill and Fleur were bringing Victoire; Dominique and Louis were spending some of the summer with their grandparents in France. Charlie was, as always, coming alone. George was bringing both children, Fred and Roxanne. However Angelina was having to stay late at work. Harry and Ginny were coming without James and Albus, as both boys were spending their summer at a Quidditch summer training camp. They were however, bringing Lily as she was too young to attend the camp. Ron and Hermione were in a similar situation; brining only Hugo; Rose at the camp with the two boys. Teddy was also supposed to be coming; accepting the open invitation that he always had as a member of the family.
However even with the many absences, there was still a feast for sixteen that needed to be made. That was a lot of work. However Molly had always preferred a busy house. She hadn't realised how much she had hated the quiet. Not until all her children had begun to leave the nest. She loved Arthur, but it had taken her a lot of time to get used to only the two of them being in the house. She still cherished every moment when the house was filled with people.
Gradually the members of her family began to arrive. Chatter filled the house once again as many people began to seat themselves at the large dining table. Fred, Roxanne and Lily ran to the garden; intent on getting in as much play time as possible before the food was ready. Ron arrived with Hugo and the young boy ran off to join them.
"Hermione says she may be a little late." Ron said with a good natured smile. "She flooed and said something important had come up at work. I think Teddy might be with her."
"Don't worry mate" Harry said with a smile. "She's always working too hard. Same old Hermione" Ron gave a snort at that.
"You're right there Harry."
Bill and Fleur arrived with Victoire as the dinner was being served.
"Cutting it fine aren't we Bill" Charlie mocked cheekily. Bill, the mature adult that he was, stuck out his tongue in response.
"Now boys" Molly scorned brandishing her trusty wooden spoon "be nice to each other"
"Yes mum" the two droned out with smirks on their faces. Their mother would never change.
The meal progressed pleasantly both in food and conversation. Bill, Charlie, George and Ron bickered as usual; their children following suit. However the bickering was friendly and relaxed; conflict not part of the equation. That was until the door was slammed open and a stressed and disheveled looking Hermione rushed into the room.
"Hermione dear" Molly soothed, her motherly nature never able to be dimmed. "Why don't you sit down and I'll make you some tea" Hermione didn't seem to even hear her mother-in-law. However she did collapse into the seat that some shuffling had provided for her with.
"Percy…I saw Percy"
The room fell silent. Percy's name was not one that could be spoken without a wave of sadness engulfing the family. A body had never been found. They'd tracked the young man's journey into the forbidden forest; found his blood pooled on the floor and the corpse of Fenrir Greyback. His trail had ended there. The group had assumed that some of Greyback's pack had been left alive. After Greyback had been killed, presumably by Percy, it was assumed that the other members of the pack had finished the job that Greyback could not. The family had had a funeral for Percy the day that they had one for Fred. However none of them had got over his death. The fact that no body had ever been found gave rise to a hope that none of them could quite stamp out.
Every time Percy's name was mentioned each member of the Weasley family felt the hope before they managed to crush it. It was not easy to speak of the brother, son, friend, who had redeemed himself in their eyes, only for his life to be taken from him too quickly.
"W-What do you mean, my dear?" Molly questioned. Her voice was far less vibrant and a great sadness twinkled in her eyes.
"Percy" Hermione said. It was as though she were in a dream. She scrunched her eyebrows in thought. "He was on trial at the ministry today. He's not dead. He…he took Teddy with him, I don't know where. He wouldn't come home."
"What on Earth are you talking about Hermione?" Ron demanded of his wife. "Percy is dead."
"No, he's not. He's Marrok. He's a werewolf!"
After the Battle of Hogwarts not much had changed. It takes time to change a nation. It takes time to recover from a war that divided its own people. The wizarding community took a long time to recover. However the same could not be said for the magical creatures that inhabited the United Kingdom.
The werewolf packs that littered the UK were left in disarray. Their leaders had been allied with the Dark Lord and now they had, for the most part, been captured or killed. There was a lack of leadership and knowhow. Many of those that had become werewolves had not done so by choice. They had been forced into the life; forced into a war that they didn't believe in. They had no idea how to live their lives. They had no clue of what it really was to be a werewolf.
The first few years had been a mess. Many wolves had killed themselves and each other. Many had been uncontrollable during the full moon. Wizards and muggles alike had faced murder and unwilling bites at the hand of the rouge werewolves that were spread throughout the British Isles. It had caused fear to spread like wildfire though the wizarding world. Many had begun to see werewolves as nothing more than dangerous animals.
Laws had been passed that enabled treatment of the werewolves as lesser than humans and no justified opposition had arisen. Some had tried; however other that Remus Lupin, now deceased, there were no werewolves that the Ministry would speak with. The people were terrified of another situation ensuing, similar to that of the war that they had just emerged from. Kingsley Shacklebolt had needed to pass the laws to simply keep the peace within the wizarding world.
Werewolves were now deemed as a beast; as non-human. However due to this, they fell under the same regulations as other beasts. They were unable to harm a human and were punishable by human laws if they did so. Yet, wizarding laws, no longer had any jurisdiction over the affairs of werewolves, in matters regarding conflict amongst their own species. Just as with centaurs and vampires their own laws were the only ones that mattered regarding one another.
Due to the stricter laws and discrimination of werewolves their numbers depleted further; many being executed or imprisoned due to their uncontrollable rage during the full moon. Wolves had started to group together; attempting to find a way to control their had segregated themselves from the world. Some had realised that the only true way to become controlled was to become packs. The lone wolf dies alone. The pack is the only way to survive.
A year after the tightening of the laws it seemed to the wizarding world that werwolves had mostly disappeared from the magical community. There were fewer and fewer attacks and due to the increasing prejudice many werewolf that did enter were looked down on and shunned.
Five more years passed before there was any more contact other than the occasional rouge wolf was made with the werewolf community. Many believed that they had all been killed. That the wolf community had become so small that they may be rid of it all together.
However that had not been the case. One day a group of werewolves had arrived at the ministry, demanding to speak to those in charge of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Five, well dressed and well equipped werewolves had been allowed in under heavy security.
Discussions had gone underway; the group claiming to be representatives of the one remaining pack in the United Kingdom, their leader being one that they called Marrok. They wished to find a peace with the magical world. To regain some of the rights that there species had once held. However the ministry had been less than cooperative.
Over the last ten years a truce of sorts had been made. Hermione becoming the Minister of Magic in that time had improved some conditions. However werewolves were still seen as beasts, not humans. Mostly the werewolf pack kept to itself; the group being in an area unknown to the ministry. Their numbers were also unknown. However wolves would, in small groups be seen around Diagon Alley, in Gringotts and occasionally around Hogsmead. However there was still little contact between them and the magical community.
Marrok, their leader, their Alpha, had gone unseen. Sending out his delegates in attempts to decrease discrimination. The delegates were always intelligent and well versed in the ways of wizarding politics. It was obvious to those that they spoke to that any mission that they were sent on was one that they were well prepared for. Now it seemed they had the answer as to how that was possible.
Percy Weasley had been an integral part of running the ministry for several years, over the course of the war and before it. He was intelligent and able to make connections between things that escaped others. It seemed that the representatives of the werewolves had been taught by the man how to effectively deal with the ministry. They had been informed how the laws worked and in many cases how to wiggle out of any sticky situation they may find themselves in.
Marrok had become a name for power. A secret and hidden force that seemed to control one of the most dangerous creatures in the United Kingdom.
Percy reentered the encampment, filled with people that respected and cared for him, with a sigh of relief. As his feet thudded to the ground he let out a howl of victory. It may've only been three days but the Alpha had returned. Almost instantly there was a cacophony of answering howls as the pack rejoiced at his return.
Percy was quickly mobbed by many of the wolves from the closer buildings. Each approached him with wide smiles on their faces; sniffing and nudging each other and Percy himself. Percy grinned at them, greeting them with equal enthusiasm. There were about a hundred and fifty members of the pack. Almost every werewolf in the UK took the pack grounds as their sanctuary. Each one was given their own space, their own land that they were able to build on or do whatever they desired with it. As part of the pack, everyone had their roles and responsibilities. The pack were given jobs to do to ensure the prosperity of the pack.
As Percy was greeting several members of his pack a large group of children could be seen sprinting across the clearing at the entrance to the sanctuary.
"Cici" one of the ones at the front yelled, as he ran to tackle Percy's legs. The entire group of children was soon on him. Five of them were tackling him to the ground; making growls and whines. Percy responded in type, playing with the group of children; wrestling them to the ground. A few minutes passed before Percy regained his feet. The children were still hanging from his arms, clutching the material of his robes. Percy let out a small growl and the children dropped from him.
"I'll play later. I have some people I need to see; things I need to do."
As Percy stood he noticed that Samuel was standing awkwardly near the group of children, a look of awe in his eyes, directed at Percy.
"Melody" A young girl of around thirteen, the oldest of the group, with black hair and brown eyes looked up to Percy. "Why don't you take the others and go back and play? I need to have a little chat with Sam here" Percy said with a reassuring smile toward Samuel.
"Alright Cici" She said with a small wave. "Come on kiddies, lets leave Mr Alpha here to sort his shit out."
"Language, Melody" Percy barked out. She only gave a small laugh as she made her way back toward the woods where the group had been playing.
He gave a small eye roll at the nickname that he seemed unable to shake. About nine years ago, when there were many dangerous wolves still on the loose, there had been a young newly turned werewolf that had joined the pack. The pack had, of course, brutally and mercilessly killed the perpetrator of such a despicable act as to turn such a young child. The child had been about two or three and had been so terrified that she had barely been able to speak and couldn't remember her own name. Percy had taken her under his wing, giving her the name of Emlyn, meaning brave and noble warrior.
For the next year or so Percy would have the little shadow of the girl following him everywhere that he went. Over the year she gradually regained her ability to speak, learning new words as she went. However it seemed that she had trouble with pronouncing quite a few words. One of these had been Percy's own name. Initially the only syllables she had been able to say were 'cy', which had quickly Ci-Ci.
Of course the rest of the children, four of them at the time, had all found this utterly brilliant. They also wanted to call their Alpha the 'cool new nickname' name and had refused to call him anything other than Emlyn's butchering of his name. Percy thought that as the kids got a little older then the name would fade with their childhood. However it seemed that that was not the case.
It was as though the children were able to telepathically inform each other of his name. Within a week of driving every new child would be calling him Ci-Ci and usually parents found that their own children would somehow magically pick up the habit with no explanation. It seemed that it was a name that Percy was never getting rid of.
Percy shook himself from his thoughts and ignoring the rest of the wolves that still milled around him he knelt down before Samuel.
"Hey there Sam" Percy tilted his head, his hands outstretched. Sam took a hesitant step forward, looking with longing eyes at the man before him. Percy let him take his time and the boy was soon wrapping his arms tightly around Percy's neck, burying his face into the soft material of his robes. Percy began to gently sway, the small boy now in his arms feeling soothed, calm and relaxed.
"You seem a little better now Sam." Percy rubbed a hand up and down the small boy's back. Samuel only nodded into the material, hugging Percy tighter.
"It's okay Sam. I'm back now, so its all going to be okay." Sam gave another nod. Percy, satisfied the young boy was doing okay, finally turned his attention back toward the other wolves around him. Mainly to Teddy who looked slightly lost around the rest of the wolves.
"I believe that Teddy here wants to ask a me a few questions." Percy said with authority. "Come along Teddy, lets go somewhere a little more private."
"Alpha" Percy looked around to the man that attempted to gain his attention; Emile. Emile was in charge of childcare and protection of the children within the pack. Each Beta within the pack had a specific role that they resided over; none was seen as more valuable than another. All played a vital function within the prosperity of the pack.
Ross was in charge of Magical combat; both fighting and training. Aaron was in charge of law enforcement and Victoria of Medicine. Each Beta had a specialised role within the pack; both to improve prosperity and to lessen the burden of the Alpha.
"Yes Emile"
"Do you wish for me to take Samuel back to the others?" Emile questioned.
"No Emile, he shall be fine with me for now. Don't worry. I'll bring him back for dinner." Percy replied. Emile gave a small nod before walking off in the direction that the children had run off too.