Disclaimer: Verily I do disclaim all ownership of this fine series!

Chapter 7

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Harry was standing in the middle of the stairs looking down on him, lips pulled back in a snarl showing slightly longer and sharper than normal teeth. His hands were half curled into fists and his stance was stiff. But it was his eyes that made the man fear this scrawny boy. His usually green eyes had turned a bright golden yellow.

Vernon had never seen anything quite so terrifying as the scrawny teen standing before him. In that moment he felt pinned by the golden stare and couldn't have moved if he wanted to.

Harry struggled with himself, trying not to reach forward and strangle the fat blob that dared ill speak his parents. After a moment he took in a deep breath and snarled, "Don't ever speak about my parents again." Anger coming off him in waves he turned and escaped upstairs, slamming the door to his room so hard the wood creaked.

Safely in his room he took to pacing back and forth as he tried to calm himself down. Truthfully the white hot anger that had ripped through him had scared him badly. He'd been angry at the comment, but the desire to bite his uncle had surprised him. He paused in his pacing when the locks outside his room were all slid into place.

Harry snorted in amusement and shook his head, as if he'd leave his room now. Back to pacing he nervously ran his hands through his hair making it even more messy than usual.

"It's getting worse," he murmured to Hedwig. The owl watched him with serious eyes. She didn't like the state her master was in lately. He was acting more and more like a predator. She'd stick by him, but his scent was putting her on edge.

Once he'd calmed down again and could feel that he was in a better frame of mind Harry thought about how he was going to last the last two more days of being around his family. Making up his mind he pulled out a bit of paper and scribbled a short note to Remus.

Professor,

Locked in my room now. Probably a good thing, I'll probably bite them the next time I'm in the same room. Can you come and get me now?

Harry

Looking it over he shrugged, it was as good as he was going to do right now. Now…how to get Hedwig out of her cage?

With a little trial and error he used one of his quills to pick the lock on her cage and let her out. She immediately flew to his shoulder and started grooming her human with her beak.

Harry laughed softly and ran a finger over her chest feathers, "I'm okay Hedwig, thanks." He smiled as she barked at him and nipped at his ear in reprimand. Once she was sure he was in one piece she let him tie the letter to her and with one last nip at his fingers she was off through his window.

Harry fell back on his bed with a sigh, hopefully he'd be away from here soon or he might actually lose it.

Remus was a little surprised to see the beautiful snowy owl come through his window at his cottage on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. He'd purchased it in the middle of the year when it looked like he might be teaching at Hogwarts for some time. It was a modest home, with two small rooms, a kitchen, a small sitting room and a small bathroom. Barely more than a bachelor pad, but then, that was all he'd really needed at the time. Now with the imminent arrival of his honorary godson he'd been fixing it up and adding every charm and ward he could think of. Dumbledore had even come down and placed a few himself to protect Harry from prying eyes. With luck no one would even know that The-Boy-Who-Lived was living there.

If there was an upside to this mess, it was that he'd get to really know Harry. He'd had a little time this year during their lessons about the Patronus, but he was looking forward to more time.

"Well hello there beautiful," he held out an arm for her to rest on, chuckling as the owl preened under his praise. He took the letter and offered her a perch on the back of his chair as he opened the letter.

He felt his eyebrows climb up as he read the short note, and this close to the full moon he could smell the boy, and his anger, on the paper. He set it down and leaned back in his chair with a small thoughtful frown. If he was having trouble with his temper now, he'd probably lose it completely in the next few days.

Remus sighed and rubbed his face. Maybe it was a good thing. Even he had trouble before the full moon, and he wasn't a hormonal teenager trapped in a house with the Dursleys. If what he remembered of Tuney and her husband was still true it was a miracle they hadn't driven the boy over the edge by now. Casting a quick tempus he stood. It wasn't too late yet, he could swing by now and get him.

"Stay here Hedwig, I'll be back with your master in a bit." Mind made up he pulled on a worn brown jacket and walked outside the wards to apparate to Number 4. It was dark enough outside that he was able to appear under a tree without fear of being seen. He spared a glance up at the almost full moon.

Checking over his clothes quickly he walked across the street and up to the door to knock. Moments later Petunia opened the door with a pleasant smile on her face that soon left to be replaced by the sour glare when she recognized him.

"What do you want?" She looked down her nose at him and partly closed the door. Remus quickly stopped her from closing it all the way and smiled. Even if she wouldn't be nice he'd at least make an effort to be.

"Hello, Petunia. I'm just stopping by to pick-up Harry. I got a note from him that he was starting to have some issues with his condition." She paled at that and silently opened the door to let him into the front room.

Remus stood there awkwardly as she turned and went up the stairs with a last glare towards him, angry that he was infecting her house with his freakiness. Remus watched her go curiously, but brushed it off.

While he was standing there he subtly sniffed the air and grimaced. Harry was certainly changing, and if what he smelled was anything to go by the teen was not happy at all. The older wolf sighed, this was not going to be an easy week.

Upstairs Harry had paused in his pacing when he heard the door open. A grin spread across his face as he started throwing his things together in his trunk franticly. So when his aunt unlocked the door he was already there with his things in hand. Not a word was said by her as they went downstairs and she watched them greet each other.

"Professor! I'm so glad you came!" He dropped his things and hugged the man in his exuberance. Remus smiled and hugged him back, "Sure thing, pup. It sounded like you were having trouble with the symptoms. Well, come on, we shouldn't keep your aunt up any longer." Remus ignored the incredulous snort from the boy as he said that, but Harry picked up his things and walked out the door with barely a backwards glance.

Remus nodded towards Petunia, "I'll be bringing him back at the end of next week." When she still didn't answer his raised an eyebrow and walked out of the house to find Harry already waiting impatiently at the end of the drive. The moment his foot cleared the doorway the portal was slammed behind him making him wince at the loud sound.

"Right, let me take care of your bag, then you'll just need to get a good grip on my arm." Shrinking down the boy's trunk he offered an arm with a kind smile.

Harry sighed in relief and calmly stepped up to his Professor. As soon as he'd smelled something familiar in the house he'd felt himself calming down. It was really rather odd now that he thought about it.

Shaking his head Harry pushed it to the back of his mind for the moment, then without a thought he listened to Remus and nodded submissively as he gripped the older man's arm.

What followed was the most disconcerting way to travel he'd experienced yet. When they landed in Hogsmeade Harry gasped and clamped a hand over his mouth as his stomach threatened to expel the slice of dry toast his aunt had given him for dinner that day.

"Alright there Harry?" a soothing hand rubbed circles on his back and after a few more gulps of the cool night air he nodded.

"W-what was that?" Much more stable now he looked up at the older man who rubbed his neck sheepishly before waving him forward towards a small cottage, "Sorry, Harry, I should have explained before apparating us both here so suddenly. It's a form of instantaneous travel for wizards. Convenient, but a little odd the first few times you do it."

Unlocking the front door with a spell Remus held the door to let Harry get a good look around. He was a little nervous that his new charge wouldn't like it, but masked his concern behind a genial smile.

He was somewhat surprised to see the boy enter slowly and take a few sniffs of the air. But then, he mused as he shut and locked the door, it is only three days until his first full moon. It's not too surprising that he's developed most of the wolfs traits by now.

Remus sat back in one of the shabby chairs with a sigh and motioned for Harry to the same. Once he had Remus fixed him with the look that made Harry subconsciously lower his eyes.

"So," he began not unkindly, "care to tell me what happened?"

Harry had to take a moment to fight back the urge to whine back in his throat and shook his head to clear it, beginning to suspect that some of these feelings were from being around another werewolf.

"Er..sorry you had to come get me. It's just," he sighed and glanced quickly up at the older mans face, "I was- I got angry and I-I wanted to.." he trailed off blushing furiously before muttering quietly, although not quiet enough for the other werewolf not to hear, "..I wanted to bite them."

He sighed and hung his head ashamed about his feelings, but there was a soft rustling of clothing and then he found himself enveloped in a hug. He stiffened, not sure how to react at first before just allowing it.

Remus frowned as he held the boy and tried to ignore the feelings of guilt plaguing him at the moment. After a moment he murmured into the messy dark locks, "It's nothing be feel bad about, Harry. It's perfectly natural to lose your temper this close to a full moon. Your father used to tell the other students that I was just PMS-ing. What he called my pre moon syndrome." This got a snort of laughter from the boy and Remus took his seat again smiling.

"As for the urge to bite them," Harry winced a little, "that's normal as well. I'm sure it won't be the last time. Merlin knows I bit Sirius' head off, nearly literally once, more than once when he teased me too close to my change."

Feeling a bit better now Harry nodded, but was interrupted by a yawn that threatened to crack his jaw.

Chuckling Remus stood and picked up the forgotten trunk, "Come on, these next few days are going to be a little rough on you I'm afraid. You should get some sleep." Harry nodded and followed him into what was to be his room for the next little while.

"Thanks, Professor," he muttered tiredly as he moved to find his pajamas in the messy trunk.

With one more smile the older man shook his head, "Call me Remus, Harry. Goodnight."

Soon the cottage was dark and quiet, filled with only the sound of two people sleeping.

The next two days were the most peaceful Harry had had all summer long. Unfortunately they were also the most miserable. When he;d woken up the next morning it was to a splitting headache and terrible flu like symptoms. He'd stumbled into the kitchen eventually to see Remus nursing a cup of tea, not looking nearly as bad as he felt.

Remus explained to him that this first transformation was going to be the hardest for him not only because of the strain of becoming a wolf in two days time, but because his human body was going to finish changing into that of a werewolf. It had been surprising to him to learn that even during the rest of the month he wasn't going to be fully human. Surprised and a bit depressed Harry only chewed on some toast before going back to bed at Remus' insistence.

As the day past his temper got shorter and shorter, leading him to even snap as Remus when the man asked him how he was feeling at dinner. After growling at the man, and realizing that he was, he looked down again in submission and muttered and apology.

Remus didn't take offense, but merely set down some thin soup with chicken in it and ruffled his unruly hair, "Don't worry about it, it'll be easier next month when you can take the potion." Remus sat back and drank down said potion with a grimace and Harry found himself glad that he didn't need to do that yet. He could smell it from across the table and it was enough to put him off his own dinner.

But all too soon it was the afternoon of the full moon and Harry was miserably hiding under his covers and groaning. He'd never felt this weak before in all his life. Not even when he'd turned his teachers hair blue in primary school and was locked in the cupboard for a week with no food. It was worse than being bitten by a basilisk he was sure.

He found himself watching the sun setting out his window in trepidation. It wouldn't be long now before he changed. He shivered, remembering the great brindle wolf that had attacked him last month. He was going to become that tonight.

About an hour before moonrise Remus knocked on his open door and stuck his head in, "Harry, we should go now." The older man looked tired and pale, just like the younger boy sitting on the bed in a baggy t-shirt and jeans. Harry nodded and got up with a wince as all his joints protested. That morning he'd grown a few inches, which he'd been ecstatic about, but now his body ached something fierce.

"Right," he replied shortly before following Remus out of the house. They took a round about walk to the Shrieking Shack so as not to be seen by any of the villagers. Neither one felt much like talking so it was a somber trip. Once there Remus broke down the boards covering the back door before replacing them again with a few flicks of his wand.

It was just as dusty and decrepit as Harry remember from last year.

"Well," Remus broke the silence, "We can leave our things down here and they should be safe." He started undressing and stored his wand the kitchen shelves along with his robes next to several pain reliever potions they'd brought with them. Blushing a little Harry followed suit, turning away until they were both covered with some loose robes that didn't do more than preserve their modesty for the moment.

As they made their way upstairs to the bedrooms Harry found himself starting to panic, his breath coming in short gasps as the pain and transformation loomed closer. Coming to stand in the master bedroom they locked and bared the door, more for Harry's sake than Remus then took seats on the mauled furniture to wait. He whined softly and started to shake, flinching when Remus wrapped an arm around him tightly.

"I'm scared Remus," he confessed softly as he drew his knees up to his chest. Remus let out a comforting growl as he held, what he and Moony were starting to realize was, his cub. "It'll be okay," he murmured back, "I'll be right here with you for it all."

A/N's: This is not to absentee author you're looking for.

Enjoy! I'm so so so so so unbelievably glad to be done with this transitionary chapter. I hate writing them, as you all can probably tell by how long it took me to get it out. Now we can get to the fun stuff. *cracks knuckles*

Next time: The first full moon! Reviews will be used to buy Remus chocolate bars.