"You need to let go, Bill." Before I beg you not to.

It was half an hour later. Charlie was now painfully aroused by those restless hands that kept brushing over the bare skin of his chest and through the fabric of his jeans. Bill, eyes shut, seemed lost in the sensations; the heat, the closeness of their forms; simply growled softly. He sounded sleepy, and by the deep, steady rhythm of his breathing, Charlie would have believed he was. Except the hands were still moving.

It was so long since they had been as close as this, obviously physically, but perhaps mentally too. It was nice to be so close to his brother – he'd missed his brother when he'd left Hogwarts, when Bill had gone off to be a Curse Breaker, when he himself had chosen work in Romania, when neither of them could get home for Christmas', or Easter. It was nice to feel his brother again; those arms that always soothed him after his nightmares, the laid there with him and listened to the rain after his first ever girlfriend had dumped him.

He'd been thirteen and his heart was broken. Bill, just turned fifteen, must have been on his 3000th girlfriend. He'd said this would happen, told his brother that the girl wasn't right for him, that Slytherin girls had no loyalty, but Charlie hadn't listened. Now, he was hurting, but instead of saying 'I told you so' at the sight of Charlie's teary face, he'd simply held the boy, then taken his hand, lead him his dormitory right at the top of Gryffindor Tower and laid with him, listening to the rain. Nothing had been said – nothing needed to be said, and when he left that dormitory, tear ducts dry, he'd felt stronger. It had always been enough to know his brother was there. With Bill behind him, little Charlie had felt he could do anything.

It'd been the same on his first Quidditch match, and then again when the Quidditch Capitan had switched him from Chaser to Seeker in his second term playing. All the night before he'd been totally unable to sleep. Until Bill had come to him with an understanding smile, and slid between the cool sheets beside him.

"Bill? What…What if it all goes wrong tomorrow? What if I screw everything up?"

Bill had chuckled and squeezed him. "You won't. It's statistically impossible for one person to screw everything up." Charlie had tried to smile, but didn't look reassured. Bill sighed softly.

"You won't screw up. You've got good eyesight, fast reflexes and you know the game." He pressed a kiss to the boy's forehead. "You'll be fine."

"What if I'm not?" The previous seeker had dropped out midterm after a Bludger had given him a mild concussion that kept making him think it was Wednesday.

Bill smiled. "Just on the off chance your not, then I'll come to the Hospital Wing everyday with a different type of Honeydukes chocolate. It'll be alright."

Charlie had smiled and fallen asleep then. And when Bill had slipped and fallen down the icy steps of the Owlery and broken both his right arm and his left leg in the winter holiday of Charlie's third-year, the younger brother had remembered, and brought Honeydukes fudge (as Bill had never really liked their chocolate). Charlie sighed. They had always been so close, shared every secret, often a bed…. The man sighed again. He needed some head-space. He needed Remus Lupin.

Pressing a kiss to his brother's forehead, he found the small ticklish spot that made his brother squirm, and wriggled free. Bill moaned, still sleeping, yet his face forming into a frown. Charlie picked up his t-shirt from the floor, tapping it with his wand to make it warm, and watched his brother latch onto it. Hopefully he'd be back before Bill woke up, but just in case, he scribbled a note.

He Apparated to Remus's doorstep, and was glad to here noises from within. It was always polite to Owl to announce a visit, but this was important. Charlie would just have to hope he wasn't interrupting too much, and pressed the small bell to announce his arrival. He had taken a gamble coming to Remus's country abode, but he knew his parents, Ginny and Fleur were staying in Grimmauld Place. It was a nice place, a big garden full of over-growing flowers and nice stonewalls. It felt good to be out in the sunshine again, not cooped up in that horrible, sterile city hospital. He hated hospitals.

Sirius Black answered the door, slightly out of breath. He was shirtless and smiling, being a free man was clearly agreeing with him. He frowned in a confused way upon seeing Charlie, but greeted him warmly none the less.

"Uh, Charlie, Hello."

"Hello, Sirius. I'm not disturbing you am I? Do you mind if I talk to Remus?"

"Uh…" Sirius blushed slightly, maintaining his smile. "Just gimme one second…" The door closed.

Charlie chuckled despite himself. Whoops.

The door opened, and Harry appeared, fully clothed and grinning, looking rather pink in the face. Charlie was surprised to see him, but hid it in a friendly hug and smile.

"Hello Charlie," The last time Charlie had seen Harry, the boy had been a nervous wreck, being dragged off the battlefield covered in blood. Now, he looked radiant, healthy and grinning, the picture of happiness. His hair more messy than usual, and with a blush, he noticed the label of Harry's t-shirt poking out the front of his collar.

"Hello Harry, How're you?"

"I'm fine thank you. Yourself?"

"I'm alright, I kind of wanted to talk to Remus."

At his name, the man appear at Harry's shoulder, smiling. His eyes were knowing, he had been expecting a visit from Charlie, having already seen Arthur and Molly Weasley, both separately and together, and Ginny, although, the golden haired man had a shrewd suspicion she had merely come to see Harry, and experience the teen had not enjoyed.

"Charlie, come in. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Yes, thank you. If its not too much trouble."

"No, no, of course not." He was lead to a small homely kitchen, full of light, where Sirius, now with a shirt, poked the kettle with his wand until it steamed, and pored the water into cups.

"So how is Bill?" Remus asked, smiling kindly. Two cups of tea were placed between them with a plate of biscuits, and then they were left alone.

"He's…"

"Different?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, we've always been really close, told each other everything, etcetera, etcetera, you know the whole thing with brothers, but now everything seems so strange." Charlie paused, but Remus didn't say anything, so he continued. "It's like we're a different kind of close now, and well -" Charlie didn't know what to say.

"Your probably his pack now." Sirius said, walking into the kitchen with Harry. "Sorry, Harry thought we could be helpful."

"How do you mean?"

Harry sat down with a sigh and pulled a biscuit from the plate. "I'm about to tell you something that, well, Bill worked it out, but that people don't know."

"So we're trusting you not to tell either." Sirius intoned. Charlie nodded.

"You have my oath."

"I am now a werewolf," Harry said simply, reaching across the table to clasp Remus' hand. "It was an accident – it happened to save my life -"

"When you got taken?" Charlie asked, unable to help himself.

Harry pursed his lips and nodded. "Moony found me, and saved my life. I would have bleed to death otherwise." He flashed a thankful smile to Remus. "But, anyway. After I turned, the people closest to me became the most important. No one else seemed to matter as much anymore."

"Pack is a compulsion to a werewolf, not merely a need. That's one of the reasons lone werewolves are so mad, and why so many wolves out-of-pack commit suicide." Remus continued. "A wolf needs contact, security, safety, every thing a pack gives. Despite what lore and legend says, werewolves are essentially social creatures."

"But Bill isn't a werewolf."

"You don't know that Charlie, not until the full moon." Sirius' smile was sad, understanding.

"I know Bill is a unique case," Remus sighed, "but you may find that even though it can't come out, there is still a wolf in there. Has he been more possessive recently? To Fleur, particularly? I'd expect she's in the most awkward position."

"How so?"

"The change…intensifies nearly all feelings in a person." Harry said with the faintest trace of a blush. "For example, what I'd previously told myself was just a crush on Remus and Sirius, became, well…"

"He needed us. He loved us before, but you understand, the one feeling the werewolf cannot touch is love, it did add a burning lust to it. If Bill loves Fleur, then he will need to have her."

"It's most acute nearest the change and the moon, and increases if you're away from Pack. It's a physical pain if your away too long." He shuddered in voluntarily. Sirius moved round the table and started to knead his shoulders.

"It's not Fleur…"

"What?"

"It's not Fleur he's like that with. He won't see her, or talk to her or anything. Before…before he got attacked, I remember I'm saying he wanted to break up with her."

Silence greeted this confession.

"Who is he like it with, Charlie?" Remus asked gently.

"Me."