I keep getting complaints about short chapters. I'm sorry, people, but I'm making this up as I go along. This has not been written out previously, and every chapter that goes up tends to go up five minutes after it's completed. Now, you can either had short chapters every two to three days or long chapters every two to three months. Personally, I'd go with the former. So please don't complain about chapter length, as it just tends to stress me out and I don't get anything done when I'm stressed.
Harry was finally given an official tour of the mansion, and he liked what he saw. It lacked the magical presence that Hogwarts exuded, but if the subtle feelings of warmth and complacency were any indication, then Harry was going to love it here. It had a lived-in feel to it. And the small piles of games and books left lying alongside discarded jackets and hats proved it.
Dinner, though, started out tensely for the teen. The cafeteria was crowded and loud and it put Harry on edge. For the longest time all he had heard was the laughter of those torturing him, so hearing laughter coming from the room only reminded him of those times. He cringed, trying to remember that he had gotten out and was now safe. Only when he had been introduced to everyone and set at a table between Scott and Kitty, did he relax. Remus and Logan had had to go talk to the Professor about the full moon issue.
"You know," Scott said as Jean placed a specially prepared plate of food in front of Harry. "Most people usually don't accept Hank and Kurt as easily as you did."
So they're blue and fuzzy. Harry retorted calmly. Logan looks like a mass murderer.
Scott, who had been taking a drink at that moment, choked. Kitty reached around Harry and pounded on his back most unhelpfully. "Are you, like, okay, Mr. Summers?"
"Peachy," Scott sputtered. "Thank you, Harry, for nearly killing me."
"Hey! You can't blame the kid, Mr. Summers," Kitty frowned, sounding affronted in Harry's behalf.
Kid? Harry grumbled. I'm turning seventeen in…what's the date?
Scott glanced up from where he was eating some chicken. "June twenty-third."
Fine. I turn seventeen in a month and eight days. Harry sighed, picking at his food. I doubt that I can be considered a kid…I doubt I've ever really been one.
Armed with nutrition potions shipped from Hogwarts, and an intense exercise regime thought up by Logan and Remus, Harry was finding himself getting back in shape a lot faster than he should have been. After only two weeks, Harry was almost to the point he had been before his kidnapping. Of course, after four hours of magical tutoring with Remus, and a three hour sparring session with Logan and Scott, anyone would be exhausted. So it was with relief that Harry joined with the Professor in the Danger Room for his first real look into his new mutant powers.
"Now, Harry, we've established that you can manipulate energy," Charles said to the student seated in front of him. "Can you feel the electrical energy in the walls?"
Harry nodded. Yes. He stated through the temporary mind link they had set up. But I can't control it.
"Why not?"
It's too volatile. I'd just as soon roast my friends as I would my enemies.
"Perhaps all you need is a little more control?" Charles asked, raising an eyebrow.
Harry shook his head, tilting his head to one side as his eyes fell shut. No. I'm not supposed to control it.
"Why not?" Charles asked again.
It's not alive.
Charles was silent for a long moment after that, and then nodded thoughtfully. "Yes. Yes. It seems you can only manipulate biological energy. Like your magic or our mutant powers." He paused. "I wonder if you could control plants."
Doubt it.
Charles chuckled slightly, and then looked up as Remus and Logan entered the room. "Red says it's time for the munchkin to have some lunch," Logan quipped.
Harry scowled at the nickname. He knew that he was a lot smaller than many others his age (thank you, Dursleys), but that didn't mean that his father had to give him the nickname 'munchkin'. Of course, considering one of the kids here had been saddled with the name 'Spam', he supposed he could live with it. For now.
Sighing, Harry made to get up, but then frowned, looking over at Remus while he was still concentrating on his mutant gift. Green eyes narrowed as he tilted his head to one side, studying the lines of magic. Charles, noticing, frowned slightly. "Is there something wrong, Harry?"
His magic is broken.
Blinking, Charles glanced at Remus, and then back at Harry. "Pardon?"
It's torn. It's not supposed to look like that. Harry paused, frowning. I think I could fix it, if he wanted me to.
"Perhaps we should wait until you have more control, Harry," Charles suggested, but even he had to admit that Harry had a considerable amount of control over his new talent.
"What's wrong?" Remus asked, frowning in slightly concern.
Charles sighed. "Harry says that your magic is broken. Torn. And he wants to know if you want him to fix it."
Remus blinked in surprise, not exactly sure what to think of that. He had never had any problems with his magic before, unless you count his lycanthropy. So for Harry to insist that it was broken was a little unsettling. "Sure," he murmured, and Logan raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged. "What could it hurt?"
"You?" the feral grunted back.
But by this point, Harry had already begun trying to fix the tears. He reached out with his power, envisioning it as small hands, and grabbed hold of the lines of magic that flowed throughout the werewolf. With some soft tugging, he pulled wayward strands back to the right path, reattached tattered ends and smoothed out rough passages. And then he pulled back, gazing at Remus with a small nod to himself.
Remus gasped, wavering on his feet until Logan reached out to steady him. And then glowing amber eyes fixed on the young wizard. "Harry? What exactly did you do?" he asked, straightening as he suddenly felt stronger. Felt as though his wolf was at the surface, and yet…more a part of him.
I fixed it. Harry whispered. I fixed the wolf.
Charles relayed this to Remus, who frowned. "What do you mean?"
You are no longer a wolf and a man. Harry paused. You are one and the same.
Remus shook his head, trying to make sense of what Harry was telling him. He still had the senses of the wolf, only they were sharper now. As though the full moon was later that night, and not a week away. Logan was watching him warily, sensing the beast as he always had, but noticing that it was different now. More controlled. More…Remus.
Tell him to try changing into Moony. Harry told Charles.
Frowning, Charles did so, but Remus merely shook his head in confusion. "I can only change at the full moon," he muttered. "And even then, I'm not always in control." But emerald eyes were gazing at him with such conviction, that Remus sighed. "Okay. Fine." And he focused on becoming Moony.
In a quick and painless shifting, Remus was gone, and a slightly larger than normal wolf was standing in front of them. The canine, obviously not a werewolf, yelped slightly in shock, and sat back on its haunches in complete confusion. Logan raised an eyebrow, noticing Harry's grin. "Moony?"
The wolf gave a short bark, and then Remus was standing in front of them again, one hand over his mouth. "Harry?"
Still a wolf, Harry murmured in Xavier's mind. Still allergic to silver. Still fiercer than normal, despite being in control. But no longer in pain. No longer forced to change. And no longer contagious. He smiled slightly. No longer broken.