AN- I know I'm probably going to get comments that Remus is OC, which is fine because this an AU after all, and that Harry/Gwydion is acting a lot older than he ought to be when he's in wolf form – but you have to take into account that by wolf standards he is adult, and he's been taught how to act like a wolf, including the dominance fights. In wolf form, he thinks like a wolf.

PHOENIX and DRAGON: Through the World Gate

Chapter 19

Remus stopped suddenly, half-way out the door of Flourish & Blotts with several books tucked under his arm, causing another customer to run into him. 'Did I just see what I thought I saw? A large black dog? No…it wasn't likely,' he thought. 'Sirius wasn't that stupid, even if he was the bastard who betrayed James and Lily to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. But still….'

"Could you move, sir?" An overweight witch with frizzy yellow hair pushed impatiently past him, knocking the books out of his hold. He bent down to pick up his books and by the time he looked up again, the dog was gone. "The nerve of some people…," she huffed, dragging an overweight toddler after her.

'I'm loosing it. I need to think about something else,' he thought, and started counting his breaths to distract the wolf inside him. 'Last stop the second-hand robe shop, maybe a couple minutes in the junk shop across from Olivanders…,' Remus mused, mentally counting the few galleons left in his purse.

The tired werewolf continued down the Alley, not paying particular attention to his surroundings until something made him look up as he passed Gringotts. 'The dog! It's there on the steps with those boys talking to the guards.' He was starting forward when his mind caught up to his ears. Those boys, they were speaking Gobbledegook…and the guards bowed to them? He almost missed the look the dog gave him as the boys led it up the stairs…but he didn't. Blue eyes…the dog had blue eyes! That was Sirius, it had to be!

Remus started forward again, his eyes changing to amber as the wolf rose within him, both parts of his mind intent on reaching the man who's betrayal had cost them so much, but a large group of gossiping witches pushed in front of him, then stopped suddenly, causing him to knock one's shopping bags to the ground as he tried to push past her. In the confusion of apologies, the dog disappeared into the bank. He quickly followed, but by the time he got inside, the three had vanished.

"Tempus," Remus said quietly, raising his wand to see the time. He'd been waiting for the two boys and the dog to come out of Gringotts for nearly three hours. He'd found an inconspicuous place in a corner by the entrance to Knockturn alley and settled out of sight, determined to find out if that was indeed Sirius. "5:32, this is cutting it too close! I've only got 10 minutes! I'd better get going…I need to be home…." He stopped before he even took a step, all thought of leaving gone. 'There they were! This time they wouldn't get away.' He started to leave his corner, but then he realized they were already coming his way and stepped deeper into the shadow.

"Did you want to do any shopping while we're here Gavin? Or maybe some ice cream?" Gwydion pointed toward Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, just a few yards away down the street. "We have to go right past it," he coaxed. He vaguely remembered tasting ice cream once, he'd been handed a cone once when one of the children in the neighborhood had a party at the park. It had been heavenly! Aunt Petunia had taken it from him though, before he'd gotten more than a couple licks. He'd gotten whipped when Vernon got home that night…his thoughts started looping, replaying the beating and the pain as he became locked in his memories.

Gavin looked over at his brother as he suddenly went silent and frowned when he saw his glazed eyes and dazed expression. The frown turned into concern when he called his name and he still didn't answer. "Cachu!" He looked around and spotted a secluded corner between two of the shops at the end of a small side alley. "Gwydion! Come on…don't do this here….," he whispered frantically in Elvish, trying to maneuver his twin to the side of the street and out of the way of shoppers hurrying home to beat the rain and darkness.

Sirius whined and watched with concern as Gavin dragged his brother into the entrance of Knockturn Alley, moving so he was between the boys and any of the wizarding world's darker inhabitants who might have spotted them there. He whined again and nudged Gavin's hand, trying to ask what was wrong with Gwydion.

Remus was sure now. It was Sirius. He started forward, then stopped in shock as the dog suddenly turned back into his former best friend and caught one of the boys as he seemed to faint. The wolf snarled, but it seemed nervous and uncertain as well. He began listening to what they were saying.

"He's having a flashback…those damned relatives of his nearly killed him, and sometimes something will trigger one. He…goes into his mind, and I think he relives things that happened to him." Gavin whispered tensely, one hand on Gwydion's shoulder to hold him steady against Sirius's. "We've got to shake him out of it; sometimes he looses control of his magic…."

"Those damn Dursleys! I don't know how Lily could have had a sister like Petunia," Sirius snarled, "Gwydion, come on luv, don't do this…Gwydion!" He lightly slapped the boy's cheek, and got a soft moan in response.

"Keep talking to him Sirius, tell him something about his parents…it might break him out of this," Gavin whispered frantically, glancing around to see if they were attracting notice.

"I can't apparate us out of here, there's a ward up. Can you drift us out?" Sirius whispered back. Gavin shook his head.

"No, not a good idea. If he lost control while we were moving, we could end up in a bunch of pieces, scattered half way across London," he explained. "We need him awake enough to know what's going on." Sirius nodded his understanding and began to talk softly, his mouth close to the unconscious boy's ear.

Remus listened, some instinct holding him back. What he heard next shocked him.

"Gwydion…Harry, did you know your mother used to sing when she cooked? She'd hold a wooden spoon like a microphone and sing into it and dance around the kitchen," Sirius closed his eyes, and continued with pain in his voice. "She liked to sing you to sleep at night too, and one time it was your father's turn to put you to bed and you were fussy. He tried to sing to you and you just kept screaming louder and louder. Your mother finally came in and took you. As soon as she picked you up you stopped crying and gave your father the funniest look. He says you told him "bad pwongs" and stuck your tongue out at him." Sirius gasped as Gwydion's eyes fluttered open and he turned slightly in his godfather's grasp, tucking his head under the older man's chin and wrapping his arms around him. Gavin gave a sigh of relief and turned to watch the street for anyone looking their way.

"I miss them so much sometimes," the boy whispered.

"I'm so sorry Gwydion. I should never have talked your father and mother into changing Secret Keepers…I thought I was too obvious, everyone would know they'd choose me. I talked them into using Peter, and a week later he turns them over to that bastard Voldemort." Sirius sighed and tightened his grip on his godson. "It tore me up when they died, I went crazy…I had to have been crazy to try and catch Peter the way I did. Dumbledore wouldn't give you to me, and by the time I was done taking care of…your parents…I couldn't find you. The bastard had put you inside wards and I couldn't get to you! I started hunting for Peter, and found him finally. Then when he blew up the street and went down the sewer…I just… cracked," he stopped, too choked up to continue for a minute. "They didn't even bother giving me a trial; I guess they thought I was too crazy to bother…."

Remus froze. 'Sirius wasn't the Secret Keeper? Peter was? The boy…he'd called him Harry! But Harry was dead…everyone said so,' his thoughts went around in circles as his confusion grew. He must have made a sound because suddenly Sirius stood and pushed the boys behind him, pulling a wand and pointing it threateningly into the shadow he was concealed in.

"Alright, step out where I can see you," the black haired man growled, his wand steady. "Keep your hands where I can see them."

Remus hesitated, then stepped forward, his hands spread to show he wasn't holding a wand.

"Hello, Sirius."

"Remus," Sirius gasped, paling as he looked into the eyes of his old friend. "What are you doing here!?" He lowered his wand slightly then flicked it suddenly to the side. "Tempus!" Numbers appeared, "5:40" floating in midair, glowing in the increasing darkness. The numbers flickered and "5:41" appeared.

Remus gasped. He hadn't realized how many minutes had gone past…he'd never make it…the moon was coming up in less than two minutes and there was no time for him to make it to the apparition point at the end of the Alley. He was going to transform right here, in the middle of Diagon Alley. He heard the sounds of children laughing from Fortesque's and paled. "Kill me!" He ordered Sirius, terrified of what he'd do once the wolf took over. "Kill me before I change! I don't want to hurt anyone!"

"No! I can't do that…," Sirius turned suddenly and looked at the boys. "Will you trust me?" They both nodded. "Drift us all back to Grimmauld then shape change as soon as we land." Gavin and Gwydion nodded again. Gavin stepped quickly to Remus's side, grabbing his arm even as he tried to push the boy away, and they were gone in a sudden swirl of mist. Gwydion took Sirius's arm and followed.

Remus landed in a drawing room, and immediately collapsed to the floor, writhing in agony as he started to transform. "No, get away," he sobbed. "I'll hurt you!"

"No, you won't," Gavin said and suddenly Remus was looking into the eyes of an eagle. It cocked its head sideways, watching curiously as the change became more violent and Remus's bones started snapping and rearranging, then flapped its wings and landed on the back of a chair on the other side of the room.

Moments later an exhausted werewolf lay on the carpet.

The werewolf lay gasping for a minute or two, regaining his strength from the change and letting the pain ease, then he stood up, his nose lifting as a door opening somewhere nearby brought him the scent of humans. He moved quickly, growling softly as he stalked towards the open door, and stopped, the fur on his back rising as the human scent suddenly changed to that of another wolf and a familiar smelling dog. Moony growled louder as a black nose poked around the door frame, followed by the rest of the dog. Remus may have at least partially forgiven Sirius, but Moony was still furious at him for betraying his pack.

The werewolf launched itself through the air with a roar of fury, hitting the black dog and rolling it over and slamming it into the wall with a sickening thud. He sank his teeth into the smaller animal's shoulder, ripping a large gash as he jerked back, trying to reach the dog's neck. Sirius twisted, managing to get his teeth on Moony's leg, biting hard enough to make him let go. The werewolf moved back with a snarl of rage, limping on three legs for a minute until the leg began to heal then launched himself at the dog once more, rolling Sirius backwards towards the stairs down to the kitchen.

Gwydion lunged forward, hitting the werewolf broadside with his shoulder, sending him into the troll leg umbrella stand and knocking it over with a crash and distracting it for a moment. Sirius took the time to awkwardly regain his feet and stood shaking, obviously in shock, with his head low and one paw held up off the floor in pain.

"Run Sirius! Get into the kitchen and shut the door," Gwydion growled, jerking a paw back as the werewolf tried to tear it off. He snarled and snapped at the werewolf, driving him back towards the drawing room, giving Sirius enough time to stagger down the stairs.

Moony tried to follow, intent on killing the one who had betrayed his pack. In that moment, the large grey wolf lunged forward, knocking the werewolf backwards again, through the door of the drawing room, before grabbing the werewolf by the throat and throwing him to the floor. Gwydion stood over Moony with his teeth sunk deep into the muscle of the werewolf's neck. Blood began to drip from the no-doubt painful wound, but Gwydion held fast, tightening his jaws and growling louder if Moony moved.

The standoff held for several minutes, and then the werewolf seemed to relax, dropping its head back onto the floor. The wolf growled again in warning then slowly released its hold, standing stiff legged over the werewolf until it gave a small whine, and then backing up a couple steps.

Moony rolled and stood up, head down and tail tucked slightly. He seemed to be thinking for a moment before he moved forward and assumed a submissive position at the grey wolf's feet. "Alpha."

"Yes, Alpha." Gwydion sighed and relaxed, putting his head down to lick the still seeping wound his teeth had left on the werewolf's neck. Hearing a pained whine, he lifted his head and looked up. Sirius had come back up the stairs from the kitchen to see why it was quiet, and make sure Gwydion was alright. He was attempting to lick his bleeding shoulder, but couldn't because the bite was too close to his neck. Moony tried to sit up when he sensed the dog, so he put a large paw on the were's shoulder and forced him back down.

":-Gavin?-:"

":-Hmmm?-:" Gavin took flight from the top of a tall cabinet in the drawing room and landed on the back of one of the chairs, leaning forward to look at what Gwydion was doing.

":- Would you mind taking Sirius into another room and doing some healing on him? I think the were did some pretty serious damage to his shoulder,-:" Gwydion asked, continuing to lick the injured werewolf, calming it and speeding the were's naturally fast healing rate even more.

The eagle nodded, and flew across the foyer, landing on the floor beside the dog and reaching out with one talon to grab its leg. Sirius gave a small yelp of surprise as he felt the talon clench, and then suddenly another yelp came from upstairs, in the direction of Sirius's bedroom as Gavin drifted him onto his bed.

Gwydion pushed the thought of his godfather out of his mind for the moment and growled softly at the werewolf. "We need to talk. Dog is my pack mate"

The werewolf tensed and Gwydion stopped licking for a moment and growled softly in warning to make it lay still. He didn't want to upset the delicate situation he had with the currently passive werewolf, but they needed to come to an agreement or he'd have to kill him. He'd managed to assert his dominance, but he still sensed rage within its mind, and he didn't want it to attack Sirius again. "Why did you attack the dog?" he asked grimly.

He already had an idea about why the attack had occurred though. He'd heard his godfather call this man 'Remus', and from the stories Sirius had been telling them, this was the fourth member of the infamous Marauders, the one the other three had become animagus' to help. Sirius had never explained just why Remus had needed their help, but the reason was obvious now.

The twin's training had included magical creatures, and they'd covered werewolves; even if there weren't any in Cymru. The Shadow was getting stronger, and there had been werewolves in the previous Dark Lord's ranks. Myrddin and Awel had wanted them to know what they might face. Elves couldn't become werewolves, something in their blood or magic prevented the infection from taking hold; half-elves could be infected, however, and while most would survive to transform, they seldom lived more than a few years after that.

Mooney sighed. His Alpha ordered him to explain, so he would, even if it hurt so bad to talk about it that it felt like his heart was torn in two. "Dog betrayed the pack, pack mates and Cub killed." He was actually glad he wasn't Alpha anymore; he didn't have to make decisions now. The wolf was licking him, soothing his nerves and healing him…it had been so long since he'd had company when he transformed and he'd been lonely. It would be nice to wake up in the morning and not be covered in scratches and bite marks where he'd taken out his frustration and anger on himself. "Dog betrayed pack…?"

Gwydion heaved a sigh of relief. He'd thought that was it. It was possible for a werewolf to maintain some sense of self while transformed, but it was too easy for one to get caught up in the thrill of the hunt or battle rage and when they got that way there was no reasoning with them. The human part of the were's mind was buried for the most part when they transformed. The wolf part was much more…primal…and wasn't much for higher thought. Not that it was stupid, just not an intellectual. Apparently Moony had calmed down enough to talk now.

"Dog did not betray pack, it was the Rat. The Rat betrayed the pack. The Cub lives," Gwydion explained with a soft growl, keeping the words simple so the werewolf could understand. "Cub was hidden, couldn't come back until now," Gwydion explained patiently, watching as the rage started to subside in the werewolf's eyes. "Dog did not betray, Rat had the secret, Rat betrayed the pack. The Cub lives – Dog protects the Cub."

"Cub?" Moony yipped hopefully, lifting his head to sniff at Gwydion.

"Are you going to behave yourself now?" The Alpha growled, taking his foot off Moony's side and allowing him to sit up. "Leave the Dog alone, he is pack."

"Pack?" Moony whined and hung his head in shame. "Yes…can we hunt?"

"No, no prey…we'll sleep." Gwydion licked the remorseful were's nose and then allowed Moony to sniff him, accustoming himself to the smell of his new pack leader. Satisfied, Moony moved over to the cold fireplace, sniffing at the remains of the fire from last night before he started around the room, paying particular attention to the chair's the boy's normally sat in.

":- I've got Sirius patched up…we're up in his bedroom. Do you have the were calmed down enough to join us? Sirius was able to cast some warming charms and it's a lot warmer up here.-:" Gavin sent a mental picture of Sirius curled up in dog form on the large bed, a sad look on his face. ":- He's torn up about Remus, he just keeps saying it's his fault.-:"

":- Do what you can to calm him down, the less emotions flying around the better right now. I'll see if the werewolf will go for it, if not I'll lead him down to the kitchen for a few minutes and you can light the fireplace in the drawing room. He's calmer…it depends on if I can get him to accept Sirius as pack.-:"

"We're going to see our pack mate. No fighting, we're going to sleep," Gwydion growled softly to the werewolf, leading him up the stairs to the bedrooms. Moony followed obediently, keeping just behind his new pack leader.

"Sirius, I'm going to bring the werewolf in now…don't make any sudden moves," Gwydion woofed as he approached the open doorway, giving them a little warning. Gavin dipped his head and rustled his feathers from the perch he'd taken on the back of Sirius's desk chair.

"Come ahead," Sirius whined sadly. "I'm as ready as I'll get."

Moony followed him into the bedroom, hesitating when he saw the black dog watching him, but he jumped up onto the bed when his Alpha did, curling up on the end of the bed with a wary eye on the dog.

Gwydion sighed, lying crosswise on the bed with his body straight and his front paws stretched out in front of him, keeping the dog separated from the still wary werewolf. "Are you alright Sirius?"

"I'm fine…I suppose you want the explanation now…," he said wearily, pain and sorrow in his voice. "It all started in our 2nd year when we were at Hogwarts…."

AN- Cachu! (shit!)