Beware the Wolf
Chapter 3 - The Beginning
Harry stepped off the train and onto Platform 9 ¾ and couldn't help but smile. He wasn't being shipped off to the Dursley's for once and he couldn't be happier. Neville was right next to him as they stepped off and quickly grabbed his hand and dragged him over to where the small old woman Harry had met during Christmas stood waiting for her Grandson.
Augusta Longbottom was a formidable woman, no matter her appearance, so Harry was understandably nervous about meeting her. Again.
"Gran," Neville said when they arrived before the woman, "this is Harry Potter. I wanted to introduce you again and let you know that Harry might be around this summer." Neville didn't stutter but he still seemed nervous. Harry wondered what his childhood must have been like.
"Hmph." She snorted as she looked him over. "You'll do I suppose. I'll be seeing him this summer you say? Well I dare say it's about time you started inviting people over Neville. I was beginning to wonder if you were ashamed of me." She gave her grandson a sharp look as she reached for Harry's hand.
Harry took it gently, but there really wasn't a need, Augusta had a hearty handshake. He felt a tingling in his hand almost immediately and yanked his hand bank, unsure what magic had just been done.
"Relax boy, just getting your magical signature so I can add you to the wards. That's all, that's all. No need to be so jumpy. Now get on with you. I hear Lupin will be watching you this summer. I saw him loitering outside the gateway."
With those words Harry gave Neville a hug, bowed slightly to Lady Longbottom and was on his was.
When Harry exited the platform he saw Remus immediately. He was so happy to see the man he almost hugged him, but Remus seemed rather reserved and had only nodded his head at Harry in greeting, so he restrained himself. If he was a little worried about the stilted greeting he shook it off quickly. He was sure that soon they would be getting on just fine.
Remus hadn't taken him to Number 12, as Harry had expected. Instead, he took him to Tintagel in Cornwall. A small cottage near the sea was where they would be staying. He had never traveled before, the Dursleys never allowed it, and so was truly excited to see a new place. Especially one Hermione had gushed over many times as being the birthplace of King Arthur. He stopped those thoughts in their tracks with a shake of his head. He didn't want to think about Hermione right now.
The small cottage had a kitchen, living room, and study downstairs, all quite nicely furnished. The Kitchen had cream-colored walls and wood cabinetry with stone counter tops. There was a family style wooden table in the middle of the room. It was made of the same wood as the cabinets. The floor was an earthy red stone
The living room walls were also painted in a cream but there was an abundance of dark wood panels and cabinets on the bottom third of the wall. The furniture was dark leather and portraits of castle ruins decorated the walls, making the over all feel of the cottage very masculine. Harry loved it immediately.
The study was filled with numerous bookcases holding dusty old tomes. The room was done up all in green and there was desk for writing.
The upstairs only held three bedrooms, all massive. The master bigger that the other two. He only peaked in there but all he could see was a sitting room much like the living room with doors branching off of it to the bedroom, bathroom, and closet.
He picked his room quickly. It didn't have a sitting room but it was still massive. Harry hadn't ever even seen a bedroom that large. It had the same cream paint and portraits as the living room, but the bedding was blue with cream and dark brown accents.
"I love your house, Remus." Harry had gushed, after putting his trunk in his bedroom.
"It was Sirius'." Harry's good spirits immediately left him. He had no idea what to say, but in the end, didn't have to say anything. The worn looking man quickly retired to his room. Locking the door behind him.
That first night showed Harry that all was not going to be fine, as he had so hoped it would be. He hadn't seen Remus for days after his initial exile into his room. No matter how Harry banged on the door or pleaded for an answer, none had come, even when he could hear the man in there moving around.
The first day was the hardest for Harry. He was used to fending for himself at the Dursley's home so it was with practiced ease that he cooked and cleaned, leaving food at Remus' door, even when the man never even opened the door to receive it. He just hadn't expected this so it was a bit of a blow.
It might be disheartening but He refused to feel hurt by Remus' continued isolation. He told himself it wasn't personal, and Remus was nothing like the Dursleys, even if this silent treatment felt reminiscent of them.
On the second day the only deviation from the day before was that Harry wrote his friends. He kept Remus' condition to himself for now, though. No use worrying everyone. He did his summer homework in those first two days and wrote a letter to Sirius, which he then burned. It had made him feel a little better.
The evening Prophet came that night and he read about the reform going on at the Ministry as well as the Death Eater trials. Evidently, all the Death Eater who had gone to ministry had been caught and he smiled in grim satisfaction when he read of Bellatrix Lestrange receiving the dementors kiss. Good riddance.
Day three came and went in much the same way, but Harry was starting to worry. Unless he had a stash of food in his room Remus hadn't eaten anything in days and if this continued he'd be forced to get someone else involved. He really didn't want to do that but resolved to wait a few days before taking that step.
On the fourth day, Wednesday, after spending 10 minutes at Remus' door trying desperately to get him to come out and eat breakfast, he decided he couldn't stay inside for one more moment. He hated being cooped up and ignored and it wasn't like Remus would even notice.
He left a note, he didn't expect to be read, took all the muggle money he was carrying, and set off into town. It didn't take very long to get to into the heart of the village and was soon just ambling around in no particular direction.
A helpful shop keeper directed him toward St Nectan's Glen and he set off eagerly to see if it was as beautiful as he had always heard. It was.
He spent most of the day wandering the many paths and, after paying the entrance fee, enjoying the Water Fall and the Tea Gardens. He thought of Sirius often, and during his walks decided to try to help Remus anyway he could. He was obviously suffering greatly, and Harry hated seeing him so upset. Or not seeing him, as it were.
He had a leisurely late lunch there in town and wandered into a few more shops before deciding it was time to begin the trek back home. He had had a wonderfully refreshing day and felt better than he had in a while. As he walked he began scheming on how, once Remus finally left his room, he would convince the man to come to the Glen with him. He was sure it would do him a lot of good.
It wasn't quite dusk when Harry came back to the cottage; sweaty, tired, but ultimately better for his leaving . He walked though the back door into the kitchen and saw his note was gone. Surprised, he dropped his rucksack and continued into the Living room.
"Remus." He called before stopping dead after opening the adjoining door. The Living Room had been completely destroyed while he was gone. The pictures were shattered and ripped apart, the couches overturned, pillow torn apart, stuffing flung everywhere. The couch closest to him looked as if it were close to being in pieces, it was that badly damaged. Who had done this?
Harry saw that nothing had been destroyed by magic and wondered if muggles burglars had been in the house. Only nothing seemed to be missing, just…demolished. He pulled out his wand and took a few tentative steps into the room. He heard a sound to his left and realized he hadn't even looked in that direction, stunned as he was by the destruction around him. He turned and before he could register anything was backhanded quite brutally. He literally flew off his feet hitting a piece of the ruined couch and tumbled over it.
He fought to keep conscious as the pain spiked on his cheekbone and eye. Tears quickly obscured his vision. That was soon forgotten, however, as adrenaline started pumping through him. He had to defend himself. He wasn't going out like this. He lifted his head, staggered to face his attacker, and nearly passed out again.
It was Remus.
Remus had hit him and destroyed the living room. His brain seemed to be malfunctioning because as soon as that thought entered his mind he tried to reject it. That couldn't have been what happened. Remus was…Remus. But the image in front of him proved the awful truth.
Remus looked wild for the first time in Harry's memory. His chest was heaving and his eyes had taken on an odd amber glint. He was staring right at Harry and when the werewolf stepped toward him, Harry instinctually took one back too.
"You are by far, the most selfish person I have ever met." Remus said through clenched teeth as he began stalking toward Harry. Harry was no stranger to violence, and not wanting to be hit again by an extremely angry werewolf, began backing up toward the door were the stairs were hidden. He kept his wand in his hand, but he wasn't sure if he could curse Remus if he really needed to.
Harry held up both hands in a placating gesture as he slowly backed away. "I don't understand…"
"You never do!" Remus practically spat. "No matter that Sirius died for you! No regard for that sacrifice. You are the whole reason he was there and yet you still can't bring yourself to follow the rules put in place for your safety!"
Harry felt the sting of those words as sharply as he had the slap, and lost his breath momentarily. He barely registered the unfairness of the accusation. He hadn't seen Remus in days, no rules had been laid down at all, but he understood what Remus was saying. He was to blame for Sirius' death.
The man was stalking toward him, and Harry forgot all pretenses and fairly ran to the door to the stairs, flung it open and raced up them, and down the hall to his room. He shut the door, but there was no muggle lock so he cast a strong locking spell while internally thanking Neville for telling him that he could use magic as long as he was staying with an adult wizard.
Then he cast a repelling charm, not unlike the one the Order had put on the doors during meetings to keep the Extendable Ears out, so that Remus would be unable to literally touch the door, and thus, unable to break it down. He prayed it held. He knew he was screwed if Remus grabbed his wand, but he hadn't seen it on the man and hoped that he calmed down before he remembered it.
For an hour Remus tried, unsuccessfully, to get into his room. He yelled and raged and Harry heard various items being thrown about and at the door but Harry hid in his closet. He felt safe there, just as he had in his cupboard at the Dursleys. He felt foolish and young at that moment. He tried to rationalize what Remus was doing, but he couldn't. Not at all
He ignored the noise in the hall as best he could and, eventually, Remus stopped trying to get into the room. Harry cried himself to sleep that night, dreaming of Sirius, and wondering how things had gone so wrong.
At nearly one o'clock Friday morning Harry could be found sneaking out of his room, just as he had done when he was smaller in Surrey. It had been over twenty-four hours since he had locked himself in his room. He was hungry, but was ashamed to admit he had been scared to leave the room while he knew Remus was awake, lest the man still be angry.
A he stole quietly through the house. He noticed the living room was back in order; looking as it always had. If not for the horrid bruising on his face, he may have thought the whole ordeal a nightmare. Merlin, how he wished it was!
Harry quickly grabbed a few pieces of fruit and bread, a few bottles of water, a tin of soup, and stuffed them into the rucksack he had left in the kitchen the night before.
He quickly made his way back to his room with his haul and deftly put the protections back on his door. He felt like a coward, but he did it anyway. Just as he finished the last charm, he heard Remus' door open and the soft padding of feet against the hard wood floor.
"Harry?" Came a soft voice from right outside his door. He didn't answer and soon Remus went back to his room. Harry waited a few more minutes and quickly ate his meal and went back to bed for another restless nights sleep.
Harry had been awake for a few hours thinking. He wasn't sure what he should do. The cottage didn't have a floo, so he really had no out, but he wasn't sure he wanted to stay. Remus obviously needed help that Harry couldn't give, especially since he blamed Harry for Sirius' death. He decided if anything else happened he would write to Neville and ask for help.
Around lunch, he decided to venture out of his room to get something to eat. He hadn't heard Remus' door open, but figured even if he did come out, he had had enough time to cool off. Plus, he was a Gryffindor. He wasn't going to hide in his room for the rest of the summer, that was for sure.
Harry's chest still ached at the thought that Remus blamed him. He was the reason Sirius had gone to the ministry, if he had just been smarter… but no, he wasn't going to place the blame solely on himself. He was partially to blame, and he could take responsibility for what his actions had wrought, but he wasn't the only one culpable in what had happened. He wasn't going to let Remus continue to hurt him either. He'd all ready had enough of that for a lifetime.
He could understand the urge to rage. He had set Dumbledore's beard on fire, after all! But he wasn't going to let it happen again, that was for damn sure. Remus could destroy the house or anything else if that helped him, but he wasn't going to hurt Harry again. He was resolved. If a part of him was still frightened and worried he wouldn't be able to do anything against a fully trained adult wizard, he pushed it aside.
He sat quietly at the kitchen table, forcing himself not to flee to his room. and ate his lunch. He hadn't seen Remus yet and didn't want to leave the house again, lest it trigger the man, so he went into the study where he had left his school things and correspondence, sat behind the desk, and started to revise. He had just started a reply letter to Hermione when he heard the door to the study creak open.
Harry looked up from under his lashes and saw Remus standing there in a pair of threadbare trousers and a white button up shirt that was nice but too big for him. Harry realized with a pang that it was probably Sirius' and couldn't help but offer the man a hesitant smile.
"Afternoon." He offered as he went back to his writing. He didn't know how to treat Remus right now, and so resolved to treat him no differently than he had previously.
"Good afternoon to you, Harry." The man replied as he sat down across from him. He cleared his throat and they sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment.
Remus tentatively reached out and lightly grasped Harry's chin. Harry stopped writing and did not fight the man as he tilted his face to get a good look at the bruising. Remus brought out his wand and cast a spell over the injury.
"Your cheek bone is cracked." He whispered. Harry said nothing. Remus left the room without another word, but came back a few minutes later with a small measure of skelegrow and some bruise paste.
Harry swallowed the potion with a grimace and allowed the pale faced man to gently smear the paste onto the bruising.
"I am sorry, Harry. I… I should not have hit you. I was angry when I found you had gone out, but that isn't any excuse. It will never happen again, I promise you." He looked so upset that Harry ignored the fact that he hadn't apologized for the things he had said.
"I forgive you, Remus. I shouldn't have left. I know that now. We'll just put this behind us, all right?"
"Yes, all right. Thank you Harry."
"No problem. Maybe we should talk about those rules though."
So the two spent the rest of the day discussing rules and reading quietly together. Harry noticed Remus was still distant and his smiles never reached his eyes, but he figured that was normal. He almost wrote to Snape when Remus went to fix dinner, but eventually decided against it. Remus had promised it wouldn't happen again, after all, and Harry trusted that. He would soon come to regret it.