The feeling of those long, pale fingers running through his hair were the only thing soothing him right now, and he just wished with all his heart that they'd make his obligations go away.

"Hey, come on, look… you know you've got to do this, Harry. So just stop thinking about it that much… " a velvet voice whispered in his ear. "Just stop thinking" it ordered again.

So he just closed his eyes for a good five seconds and drew in a tired breath before having the courage to step away from the warm body holding him.

"…Yeah, I will" he said lamely, looking into the gray eyes.

Draco shook his head. He knew the gryffindor was far from being okay regarding this situation, but at the same time he also knew that no one could do anything about it. There was nothing he could say that'd make this easier on Harry, and all he could do was hold him for as long as time would allow.

"…Come on, I think Granger can only make so many excuses" he said with a knowing voice.

Harry looked at him and shook his head. He had forgotten to actually tell Draco that Hermione had figured it out. Well, turned out he didn't have to in the end…

Sighing helplessly he nodded "Yeah, I know…" he murmured. Then, as though snapping out of a trance, he exclaimed "Oh alright! Argh… I'm going!"

He gave the blonde a meaningful look and kissed him before finally walking away, his lover's voice echoing in his mind, telling him it'd be okay eventually.

Sighing he left the Room of Requirements and headed down the hall to the headmaster's office where he'd be flooing to the burrow along with Ron. Hermione, once again, had decided to stay in Hogwarts and this time he was guessing she had a pretty good reason, seeing as she had been spending most of her time in the library lately looking for Merlin-knew-what. He was hoping she was secretly trying to find a way of bringing his fathers back, but his recently developed hope-crushing mechanism stopped him from expecting much.

After saying the password and being let through he found Molly Weasley, Dumbledore and Ron already there and waiting for him.

"Err… I ahm… was… in the bathroom" he mumbled awkwardly, feeling like they were all expecting to hear his excuse for being late.

The headmaster looked at him with a knowing glint in his eyes and smiled as he nodded.

Harry shook his head at that. No, he did not want to think about how Dumbledore could know what was going on, really! So he just ignored the look and smiled back lamely before stepping up to his friend.

"Well… I'm ah… ready now" he announced, when no one cared to say anything.

"Oh, yes, yes of course, Harry. Come now, we ahm… have many things to sort now, don't we?" the motherly woman said, failing miserably at her attempt to make the whole thing less traumatizing.

Ron, that didn't have his way with words either, just nodded to him "Let's go, mate"

--

"So see, dear, we could go tomorrow I believe… what do you think of that? It'll be really quick, I'm sure." She kept on going on and on about it and Harry was nearly ready to shove the spoon he was holding inside his ears to see if it'd block her out.

Ok, yeah, he was angry again, but how could he not be?! All the Weasley's matriarch could talk about was think stupid bloody adoption – which by the way she insisted was "a mere legal title" when he knew it wasn't. And he knew, rationally, that she was just trying to make this unavoidable event easier on him, but she wasn't doing him any good at all. No could change the fact that as soon as he was registered under their family, he'd be letting go of his parents for good. It'd be the ultimate acknowledgement of their being gone.

"I… I know" he said through nearly gritted teeth, before stuffing some more mashed potatoes inside his mouth to prevent him from saying anything else.

After that she decided to let him be, at least for the remainder of dinner, and so he could finally sit through it in peace with only a quiet Ron as company.

When they were nearly done, though, the freckled boy put his fork down and looked up at him with his honest and see-through expression. Through the years Harry learned to read his best friend easily… they were both boys, both mostly oblivious to other people's complex feelings – specially girls' – and neither did they talk to each other about… matters of the heart. It was as simple as that, boys didn't have much to sort out. Except Harry wasn't like every other boy, which made Ron change a bit to keep up with that.

"Mate?" he called in a soft voice and at capturing his friend's attention he went on "I know this is... a tad… messed up. But ahm… there's nothing anyone can do, y'know? I mean… time will have to keep going, right? And… I just.. I mean... don't you think it's really better being with people? Around people? Cause you keep wanting to be alone and… I get that… cause I pro'lly would've done the same thing, but it's gonna make you think more about that. And you thinking about it it's only gonna make you feel like crap, cause… it can't… change what happened… I.. I mean, not that we're saying that maybe we can't find a way-"

"I know, Ron" the Boy-Who-Lived interrupted. And though his friend was expecting him to just blow up again, he just nodded with a ghost of a smile. "I know you guys are just trying to make it easier on me. I know that. It's just… it's… really hard, but… your family is like my family too… and I know I'm being a git… but I really do appreciate what you are doing for me… I just…" he trailed off. He just wished his parents were here and end of story.

The red head smiled back awkwardly and nodded, he knew Harry would be okay eventually.

--

He had decided to let them near him, figuratively speaking, and so he ended up having this long conversation with Molly in which she tried to be the mother to his depressed teenager. Since he was a bit more open to it, he actually listened to her and in the end… he did feel a tad better.

She told him they'd talk about the legal stuff tomorrow when they went to the ministry and only when they had all the paper work okayed would they see how they'd bring his stuff and how they'd arrange the burrow to be able to have him there permanently. And of course… after all that was done… only then they would see what they'd do about River Side.

After that – and getting a huge motherly hug from the woman – he went up to his best friend's room so they could play exploding snaps. As it got late, Ron grew sleepier – as opposite to Harry who seemed to be getting more alert – and so around midnight the red head finally decided to call it a night.

The messy haired boy went to his own bed as well, not wanting to let his friend know that he was wide awake because he knew the boy would want to keep him company till he felt sleepy and that wouldn't happen any time soon.

He lay awake for what might have been hours, or maybe minutes, he couldn't be sure. All he did was stare at the white ceiling and run everything that had been discussed today through his head over and over again. And no, nothing seemed less horrible just because he was thinking about it with a clear mind.

As he lay there, he noticed how bright the room was even though it was in the middle of the night, frowning he got out of bed and slowly made his way through the room towards the single large window. Did he spend so much time thinking about his life that the sun was actually rising?

When he got to the window he was bathed in the pale glow that was lighting up the room and could finally see that its source was the enormous and imposing full moon outside.

It was hauntingly beautiful…

He couldn't imagine having to spend his entire life fearing something so breath-taking as that bright orb that lit up the sky. He did know, though, what it was like to hate it, because he had done so for as long as he could remember. All he could ever think about when he saw the moon above him was how he wished he could go up there and tear it down to little pieces so it'd stop hurting his father so much. He wondered if wherever his dad was right now… if he was seeing the beautiful moon through human eyes. Harry could only hope so.

Without thinking much the boy opened the window, needing to let in the freezing cold wind that was blowing through the trees outside. It was numbing, but it made him feel so… good. It was a surreal moment, like the ones he shared with Draco, and it made him feel like things would sort themselves out.

He looked down at the Weasley's yard and at the trees surrounding it, somehow it looked like everything had a life of its own under the pale light and he was entranced by that. And as he kept looking, he noticed that one part actually had a life of its own.

He strained his eyes… by the movement of the trees he could see that it was like something was moving through them. But it kept moving impatiently in the same way, as though waiting.

His logic worked all by itself and it was easy to figure out that something was up to no good out there. Or rather, someone was… and if it was lurking around the burrow… then its target was one of the people here. He had to see what it was… before it had a chance to act first.

He turned around and went straight to Ron's bed, shaking his friend awake. "Ron! Get up! Get up" he said.

The red head tried to fight him, still asleep, as he mumbled incoherent things.

Harry called him again, shaking him more fiercely this time.

"Hmmm just five more minutes… come on" the freckled boy slurred, his eyes half open now. Finally he seemed to notice his friend and his eyes opened a bit more "Harry, let me sleep" he said annoyed as he noticed it was still night.

"No! Look, wake up, pay attention. We have to go outside" he said.

That seemed to do it for the red head and he sat up shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. "Outside? Are you mad? Why would we ever go outside in the middle of the night and freeze to death?"

"No, we have to, there's something outside, Ron! I think someone is out there in the woods"

The phrase sent shivers down the freckled boy's spine and he shook his head. "What… you mean like… a… Death Eater?" he asked in a low voice, but then shook his head "No way! It's got to be an animal. You're being paranoid, mate"

Harry shook his head "Animals don't walk around in circle waiting to attack. We have to go check"

"What do you mean 'We'?!" Ron asked, widening his eyes. "You're saying we should go outside in this cold, alone to check on a potentially murderous unidentified thing that's creeping about?!"

Harry nearly smiled at his friend's usual lack of willingness to go and do something scary. It's like no matter how many things he faced up until then, he was still the same Ron.

"Come on, we'll take my cloak. Whoever it is… they won't see us"

"No way, mate, no way! Let's talk to my mom and dad, maybe they can check it out or something" the red head suggested.

"And tip the… Death Eater off? I'm sure Mrs. Weasley wouldn't be so quiet if she woke up to something like this. Besides, they can't fit under my cloak, they'd be seen before they could find out anything"

Ron shook his head, he knew there was no way he'd get Harry to forget the whole thing and go to sleep.

"You do know we can't even do magic?" at his friend's nod, he sighed "When I'm killed… I'm blaming it on you" he said as he got up.

Harry had a one second hesitation, when he thought about how it was this very same impulsiveness that led him to the Department of Mysteries and… well. He shook his head though and pushed the thought away, nothing was going to happen to them.

--

Ron had been right about them freezing, or nearly anyway. It was unbelievably cold outside, which for a second made them think about dementors, but it wouldn't make any sense that there'd be one there.

Slowly they made their way through the back yard. Harry led, trying to remember the exact spot he saw something moving.

The trees weren't giving anything away, they were dark and still and creepy but none of them moved suspiciously and no sound came from around them either. It was like the second before the storm, wherein everything would just stop… right before chaos ensued.

The messy haired boy couldn't help but hold his breath as his adrenaline ran high… and suddenly… there it was.

A nearly human sound pierced through the silence and both Ron and Harry looked at the direction it came from sharply. By the sound of the bushes and trees it was clear that something was coming their way.

They couldn't help but take slow steps back, hearts racing as they kept staring anxiously towards the sounds.

"Harry" Ron's voice came, full of fear and regret for being dragged down. He knew it had been a bad idea!

The dark haired one just shushed him, trying to keep his entire focus on what was hiding up ahead.

"It's coming… watch out" he warned Ron, not even sure what he meant himself. His grip tightened around the wand he wasn't even supposed to be holding and he braced himself.

The fast sound grew unbearably closer and suddenly an enormous dark shadow jumped out from behind the trees.

Its magnificent black fur shone under the moonlight, its eyes gleamed as well and it looked right at them as though it could see them standing there. It was a huge bear-like dog and all Ron could think about was The Grim figure… it meant death.

Harry was staring at it with wide eyes. His mind… had to… it just had to… be playing tricks on him. This couldn't… this wasn't… He wanted to turn to Ron and ask if he could see it too, or if the dog was just a figment of his imagination, but before he could even open his mouth the creature started to bark at them madly.

He found he couldn't move though and it seemed Ron couldn't find the strength to do it either. And then as sudden as the first dog had come, a second larger creature ran out of the bushes .

It was much more intimidating, it was larger, its teeth sharper and it had murderous yellow eyes that shone with glee as it looked at them. Its fur was silver and it glowed so much under the moon that it looked like a patronus of flesh and blood.

The posture it took left no doubts to either boy that it was ready to pounce on them, the poor unsuspecting preys.

One moment they were facing death itself and the next the big black dog had pounced on the silver one distracting it from devouring them whole.

An unexpected fight took place in which the first dog tried to overpower the second, and the latter didn't take it lightly, fighting back with all its might, defending his right to claim both preys to himself.

He couldn't look away, he was entranced as he watched the two animals fight before him, and even his friend's tugging couldn't snap him out of it. He couldn't believe his eyes… he just couldn't believe it.

"Come on! Run!!" the red head yelled, pulling on his sleeve desperately "MOVE HARRY!!" He shouted.

Finally the black haired one seemed to hear him, but he still didn't move an inch "But… this is… you don't under-"

"They're werewolves, Harry!! Come now!!" he said, making use of the physical strength that over powered his friend's to literally drag him away and inside.

The last thing Harry registered before entering the burrow was the cry of the black dog as it was deeply wounded by its opponent.

Everything was spinning around him as he heard the door close, it was just too much for him to take in. he kept asking himself if he had gone insane or if he just-

"What a bloody brilliant idea to get us killed!! Going out on a full moon to chase after dodgy movements in the woods! We nearly got e-" he interrupted his yelling when he noticed his friend wasn't paying any attention "Are you even listening to me?" he asked, annoyed.

He wasn't. He was just staring at the door with wide eyes, so petrified that even his wand was still in hand.

Finally he found his voice and finally he managed to say out loud what he had been thinking the entire time.

"…that was… it was… Padfoot" he said with a dream-like tone "It was Padfoot and Moony!" he shouted, looking at the red head.

The taller boy's anger seemed to evaporate on the spot.

"Mate… it… they're…" he sighed, not wanting to say the word 'dead'. "Those things were werewolves, Harry, I know you think… I mean… it was dark and it can… you know… I mean… Look, it just wasn't them… ok?" he said incoherently. "We could have been killed…" he emphasized, shaking his head as he drew in a breath. This being 'adopted' thing was really having its way with Harry's mind.

The Boy-Who-Lived went back to staring at the door.

"There was just one werewolf, Ron" he said in a low voice, wishing with all his heart he could be outside "I'm sure of it".

--

A.N:

Ohhhh what now? :OO Is our poor Harry insane? Kkkk I'm not saying a thing :D

Answer to Reviews:

Ice Fata: Ownn thanks kkkk don't sulk now :DDD Oh!! Happy late b-day!! Wow, so my birthday is 3 days after yours kkkk

Fantasyfan4ever: Thank you so much. Seriously... your words mean a lot to me... and yeah it's being real tough -sighs- but... hopefully I'm strong enough to beat this... and hopefully I'll turn out happy and...well, normal, just like your aunt did :) Thanks. You liked it? Good XDD kkkk Well.. I don't know about their search for answers but well... see how things turn out hehehe Kisses!!

Folfette Dreamwalker: Ohhn thank you ^^ I really do try to be "canon" as close as I can be when it's slash anyway kkkk Hahahaha the stuffed dragon!!! I'm not saying anything XDDD Thanks!!

ga-4-ever: Thanks :D Well..ron is... ron lol thanks!