Okay, you know what? I'm going to stop saying I'll try and have the next chapter up sooner, because clearly I am uncapable of doing so. I'm so sorry for this extra long wait but I've been stupidly busy with one thing and another. I think it's safe to say that you can expect one chapter per month seeing as that's the rate I'm going at DX

Oh yeah, big thanks to the reviewers! I never knew deer/stag meat was so popular until now O.o Now I know what it tastes like so thanks :D

Anyway, here's chapter 11 and I hope you'll forgive my lateness :(

Tasting vs Kissing

Remus walked down the stone steps to the Great Hall. His hair was a mess, he had dark rings under his eyes from lack of sleep, and his robes were torn and ragged, not to mention his face was covered in scars, a reminder from the full moon. Last night hadn't been the best transformation; he'd taken the Wolfsbane potion but he'd had this animalistic urge which made him want to find Greyback and rip his throat out. He'd managed to numb that compulsion by locking himself in the shrieking shack where he took his anger out on himself – unfortunately the result was that his face was more marred than usual.

By now the whole school knew about Harry and Greyback and how he'd gone missing. Although, these were mainly rumours, no one knew the whole story apart from Ron and Hermione.

He took a deep breath before entering the Great Hall, making his way up to the teachers table and sitting next to Professor McGonagall.

"Oh, Remus, you poor thing," she said softly, eyeing his appearance.

"It's nothing," he said dismissively.

"I highly doubt that," she retorted. "What happened? It's never been this bad before."

"It's... it's confusing," he said weakly. "Usually, after I take the Wolfsbane potion, my mind is my own. However, last night, I found that one impulse still remained."

McGonagall looked on with wide eyes.

"It was the urge to kill," he croaked. "I wanted to kill Fenrir Greyback for taking away my best friend's son. Minerva, I wanted his blood, I wanted to rip that beast apart."

The Headmistress stared at Remus, her lips pressed into a tight line.

"Remus, I'm sure that's natural. You love him, as do we all, and I think we all would like to see that creature dead for taking Potter away. What you felt last night was probably your own emotions heightened by the full moon."

Remus sighed and pinched his nose.

"I don't know what to do," he muttered. "It's been three days since Greyback took Harry and I've done nothing to help get him back!"

"There's not much we can do if Potter is unwilling to come home to us," she said sadly.

"It's the damn mating instinct that's clogging up his mind!" Remus growled angrily. "If... if Fenrir was out of the picture we'd have our Harry home."

"Remus, you can't possibly be thinking of going after that beast," whispered Minerva. "That would be most unwise."

Remus didn't say anything. There was no way he would let Greyback keep Harry. Merlin knows what the man had already done to the boy.

*FG-HP*

Fenrir woke up early the next morning, and found his arm was still draped over Harry's narrow hip. He squirmed away, not liking the schmaltziness the gesture portrayed. Luckily the boy was still asleep, naturally, seeing as it was most probably only daybreak. There was a soft pinky-yellow glow that shone through the entrance of the cave and Fenrir smiled contentedly; he did love the dawn.

His cub stirred in his sleep and he turned to look at the boy. As he stared he couldn't help but feel some sort of... affection was it? Immediately he shook his head; this boy was his mate, his life partner forced upon by the mother moon, nothing more. Although, try as he might, he couldn't compel himself to think of Harry as a burden or an intruder in his life; he was beginning to care for the kid for some mad reason. He then remembered that tonight was the new moon – or the mating moon as he thought of it as. He had to tell Potter this soon, or he was sure the boy would shout at him for leaving the news so late. He decided to prepare a breakfast to put Harry in a good mood.

He stood up and walked to the leftovers of the stag and examined a few pieces before deciding it was most probably edible. It was a little dried out but he was sure it would taste fine.

He made his way back over to Harry and knelt beside the boy.

"Oi, pup, wake up," he growled softly. Harry didn't rouse; instead he just snuggled further into the make-do bed. Fenrir grimaced – he wasn't too good with affection, so he tapped Harry's cheek lightly. The boy flinched and frowned before his eyes opened slowly.

"Awake at last," Fenrir muttered. "Listen, I need to talk to you about something."

Harry rubbed his eyes and sat up. He'd forgotten he'd asked Fenrir to sleep with him last night, and now he couldn't quite believe he'd done such a thing. Why did he ask that?

"Oh, what about?" he said, his voice croaky from sleep.

"Come and have breakfast and I'll tell you."

Fenrir retreated back to the food, Harry following him sleepily, noticing that he was still only in his underwear. Fenrir, however, had graced himself with some tattered denim shorts.

"Tuck in," Fenrir ordered, once they were sat around the dried out stag.

"Is this from last night?" Harry asked nervously, picking up a streak of arid animal. He held it away from his face, his nose scrunched up in disgust.

"Is that going to be a problem?" Fenrir asked quietly. He'd told Harry that living in the forest would mean eating anything you can get your hands on, but now he was feeling guilty. Should he find something else?

"No, it's okay," said Harry quickly, though Fenrir could see in the kid's eyes that it obviously wasn't.

He stood up abruptly and made for the forest.

"Where are you going?" Harry called.

"I'll be back in two minutes, just eat your food."

Harry watched Fenrir until he disappeared amongst the trees in the forest. He hoped he hadn't offended him. Maybe he should be more grateful; after all, old food was better than no food, right?

He picked up one of the pieces of meat and nibbled on it. He was surprised that it didn't taste all that bad. In fact, it was almost better than last night, dried out like this. Obviously the warm summer air and evening sunshine had done it some good, making the food taste a little like beef jerky.

Fenrir returned a few minutes later, his arms carrying – what looked like – fruit. The man dumped it unceremoniously on the floor beside Harry before going back to his meat, stuffing several pieces in his mouth greedily.

Harry just stared at what Fenrir had done. Was the fruit for him, or was Fenrir planning on using it in a trap for an animal of some kind?

Not wanting to be rude, Harry continued to gnaw on his jerky until Fenrir would give him the go ahead to eat the succulent-looking fruit.

They ate in silence for what had to have been two long minutes before Fenrir spoke.

"Now listen here, pup," he said suddenly, startling Harry out of the silent meal. "I go out and get you some of that disgusting fruit and you ignore it?"

"I didn't know it was for me," Harry said with a shrug.

Fenrir snorted. "Pfft, you think I'd eat some of that squishy, health food?"

"Well I don't know!" Harry bit back defensively. "You didn't tell me it was for me."

Fenrir huffed and stuffed a large amount of the desiccated animal into his mouth.

"What is this meat anyway?" Harry asked, examining a piece before gnawing at it some more.

"Stag," Fenrir said casually, picking at his teeth.

Harry felt his stomach churn unpleasantly. He was forced to swallow the chewed up meat in his mouth as he didn't particularly feel like spitting it out.

"St-stag," he repeated softly after the food slid down his throat. An image of his Patronus popped into his mind, followed by a man with messy black hair and glasses.

He stood up clumsily and stumbled over to the nearest bush before emptying the contents of his stomach into the green leaves. The fact that he'd just devoured such a meaningful, not to mention beautiful, animal had made his belly quite upset.

After he was finished heaving up his breakfast – and yesterday's dinner – he wiped his mouth with the back of his shaking hand and took several deep breaths.

"Well there's gratitude for you," said a voice in his ear. Harry jumped and hiccupped at the same time before whipping round to face the man. "What's wrong with you, pup?"

"I... I can't eat stag," he said, knowing it was a silly thing to say seeing as he'd been fine last night.

Fenrir raised his eyebrows but didn't question it. "Good job I fetched that fruit for you then, eh?"

Harry nodded and pushed his glasses up his nose seeing as they'd slipped down a little from where he'd bent over to hurl.

"Have some of that mangy fruit; that should get rid of the taste," Fenrir said. He placed his hand on the back of Harry's neck and guided him back to their eating spot. Harry took a pear and started to munch on it. Luckily enough, after several mouthfuls, the acidic taste of vomit had disappeared from his mouth, instead replaced with the luscious, juicy taste of pears. "Thanks," he mumbled.

Fenrir had watched on with a disgusted look on his face. Fruit looked so... unappetising and downright weird.

"C'mon, I need to talk to you," he said gruffly. Not wanting to keep Harry near the stag meat any longer than necessary he stood up and made his way into the cave. He kept walking until he reached the bed. Once there he waited for Harry to join him before he began his... lecture.

"Right... Well, I presume you know that at some point we need to... mate, right?" he said when they were both seated comfortably. Fenrir would have very much liked to have avoided this conversation, but his cub needed to know.

Harry nodded.

"And you remember I told you that we would have to mate on the night of the new moon?"

Again, Harry nodded.

"Do you know much about moon cycles, kid?" Fenrir asked. Yes, he knew he was dragging it out, but he dreaded the moment when he would have to tell Harry that they would be fucking tonight.

"I... I learnt about it in Divination once," Harry said, thinking back to the lesson where Trelawny had told them what to expect on each cycle of the moon, but – as was the case with all of her lessons – none of the information stuck.

"Do you remember when the new moon is?" Harry shook his head. "Well, in the Muggle world its two weeks after the full moon. For werewolves and wizards... well, it's two nights after the full moon."

Harry blinked a few times and he felt his heartbeat speed up.

"I... I see," he said hoarsely, before clearing his throat. "And... the full moon was... two nights ago."

"Yeah."

Harry felt his brain go hazy. He wasn't ready for this whatsoever!

Fenrir watched as Harry's facial expressions changed, from that of understanding, to fear. Maybe if they'd done more intimate stuff already, the boy would be more prepared.

"Not gonna be sick again, are you?" Fenrir asked, smirking.

"No, I'm fine, thanks," Harry said, his face deadpan.

Fenrir crawled over to Harry.

"You'll like it, you know," the man whispered in his ear. "The mating, I guarantee you'll enjoy it. It'll feel like the best god-damn thing on earth." He shimmied even closer to Harry. "Let me show you how good I can make you feel."

That wouldn't be hard; it was what Fenrir had wanted from the very beginning, to touch this body and to see it squirming in pleasure. It was only when it came to showing true love and affection that he struggled, which was why he was nervous about tonight. The mating had to be done in some sort of love.

Harry pushed half-heartedly at Fenrir's chest as he ran his rough hands over Harry's thigh. "I don't know," he said softly, edging away.

"Don't know what," murmured Fenrir. He pushed Harry down lightly so his pup was lying on the floor and he positioned himself over the boy.

"I still don't know what I want," Harry muttered, resting his hands on Fenrir's biceps for want of a better place to put them.

"You can't possibly tell me you don't want this after what you asked of me last night, pup," said Fenrir with a wicked grin.

"Last night I wasn't thinking!" Harry implored, though he knew that was a lie. "I don't know why I asked that!"

"Because you want me, cub; you want to be with me. I know you do, because I can feel the pull to you as well. Don't fight it or the moon won't be happy."

Harry snorted. "What the hell do you mean, the moon won't be happy?" he asked sceptically. "It's a moon! It doesn't have feelings." Although he said this, Harry wasn't sure if that was completely true; there were still so many things he didn't know about the Wizarding world, let alone the ways of the werewolf.

"Oho, it can be bad when it wants to," Fenrir whispered. "It can mess with your mind if it wishes."

Harry stared at Fenrir gormlessly. "But I'm not a werewolf."

"No. You are a werewolf's mate."

"So?"

"So, after tonight, after the bonding, the moon will be able to affect you much more. After we mate, you will be halfway to becoming a werewolf. The bite will complete it. Then the moon can control you how it wants."

Harry didn't know what to think. He knew he wanted to give Fenrir the chance to a life with more freedom, but when Fenrir had mentioned the bite... Harry shuddered.

"Does it hurt?" he whispered. "Getting bitten?"

"It would hurt if I bit you at any random time, for instance now," he said with a feral grin; Harry flinched. "But I have a feeling the pain would be less were I to bite you during... tonight."

"But... don't you have to be in wolf form to bite?" Harry asked feeling thoroughly confused. He was not having sex with a wolf.

"And I will be in wolf form. Afterwards, kid, don't worry. Anyway,once we've mated I'll be able change when I want, remember?" the man said. "So, seeing as I'll bite you straight after our shag you shouldn't be in too much pain."

Harry grimaced at the word 'shag' and gulped comically. "I'm scared."

Fenrir gave a low chuckle. "Don't be, cub. Just think how free you'll feel afterwards, when you're like me. When we're both free wolves... Now let me taste those lips again."

Harry turned his head to the side before Fenrir could touch him.

"Must you call it that?" he asked. He'd noticed that the last time Fenrir wanted a kiss he'd asked to 'taste his lips'.

Fenrir furrowed his brow. "What?"

"'Tasting'," said Harry. "It sounds so... animalistic."

"But... that's what I'm doing." Now Fenrir was confused. Why was the boy questioning his way of tasting? Sure, some wolves lick the neck or wrist or thigh, but Fenrir found that most of the taste was on the mouth.

"That's called kissing," Harry said. "Not tasting."

"Kissing? Pa! That's for humans," Fenrir said with a snort.

"But your so-called tasting is exactly the same as kissing!" Harry said with a grin.

"Is not," the man said grumpily. "This is tasting..."

And he closed the gap between his and Harry's face, his tongue creeping through Harry's startled lips to lap at the boy's smaller tongue. Gods, his cub tasted good.

Harry could feel the man's stubble rubbing against his chin but he found he didn't care all that much; the sensation of Fenrir's forceful tongue in his mouth was making him shiver in pleasure. Finally the man pulled away and Harry wiped his mouth instinctively.

"Now, pup, you show me what kissing is," Fenrir said with a glint in his eye.

"What?" Harry squeaked.

"Come on, give me one of your human kisses."

"No!"

Fenrir leered. "Why not? I bet you've got a good little mouth on you."

Harry stared at Fenrir with wide eyes, quite abashed.

"Go on, show me how different kisses are."

Knowing that if he didn't give in, Fenrir would get his way anyway, Harry sighed and, quite unsure of what he was doing, leant up to meet the man's lips. He lightly pressed his lips to the ones above him, one hand travelling to the back of Fenrir's head where he combed through the strands of matted hair instinctively. Throughout the kiss Fenrir kept his eyes wide open, slightly startled at the gentleness of this supposed kiss.

He pulled away softly and stared down at his pup, who was blushing furiously.

"I told you so," Fenrir said nonchalantly.

"What?" Harry said outraged, embarrassment forgotten. "Told me what?"

"They're completely different. I didn't even get a taste of your mouth that time."

Harry frowned. "So they're kind of different. But some kisses involve... tongues."

Fenrir raised his eyebrows and tried to hide a grin. "Show me."

"No, no, that's enough, let me up," he whined, and tried to sit up, but was unable to seeing as Fenrir was still over him.

"C'mon, Harry, prove me wrong; show me tasting and kissing are the same thing."

Harry frowned when the man called him by his first name, but, nonetheless, leant up to Fenrir with more force and pressed his lips against the man's before poking his tongue through his lips and into the other's mouth. As soon as his naive little tongue had entered Fenrir's mouth, Fenrir's tongue had instantly started to lick, push and wrap around Harry's.

Hurriedly he pulled away.

"I thought I was supposed to show you!" he growled.

"You did, you won the argument, now let me tas– kiss you," Fenrir said. He licked up Harry's throat before reaching the boy's mouth.

Harry squirmed at the feeling of the hot wet tongue on his exposed neck and arched his head back. Then that rough mouth was back on his again, and that familiar tongue was inside his mouth again. This time, however, Fenrir wasn't as demanding; one of his hands ran through Harry's hair, while the other was pressed on Harry's chest.

Harry groaned deeply in his throat and brought his hand up to caress Fenrir's head once more. This must have been the first intimacy they had really shared together. When that surprisingly tender kiss was over Harry didn't remove his hand from the back of the man's head, nor did the man remove his hands from Harry's head or chest.

"I'm never doing anything like that again," Fenrir said flatly.

Harry frowned. "Like what?"

"That mushy, human stuff..." Fenrir sneered. "It's not me."

Harry let his hand drop and – once again – he tried to sit up. This time Fenrir allowed him to, though he didn't move all that far away from him.

"Then what is?" Harry asked bitterly. "Rough, dirty, wild, passionate sex, right?"

"Pretty much," Fenrir said, causing Harry to wince at the thought. "But don't worry pup, I'll go easy on you tonight."

*FG-HP*

Remus was pacing in his bed chamber when McGonagall and Moody arrived.

"You're mad, Lupin!" roared Alastor as soon as the door slammed shut. "Minerva told me everything! You can't go after that brute!"

Remus stopped his pacing and turned to the old Auror.

"I can, I have to, and I will," he said shortly, before pacing again.

"Remus, please," begged Minerva. "This is reckless! Sirius and James wouldn't want you to risk your life!"

Again, Remus stopped pacing.

"Sirius and James? You mean Harry's godfather and father?" he asked quietly. "Do you think they'd want Harry to be stuck in some mangy old cave with Fenrir Greyback?"

"N-no! Never!" she whispered. "But think, if Potter didn't choose to stay here, then surely he must be reasonably contented there? Besides, Fenrir couldn't hurt the boy if he's his mate."

"You're missing the point entirely, Minerva!" Remus cried, and the woman flinched. "I know Harry wants to stay up there, I know Fenrir can't hurt him, but it's Harry's future I'm worried about! He could be so much more than a... a... a beast!"

He flung himself into a seat and ran his hands through his hair shakily.

"Now listen here," McGonagall said firmly. "I know you dislike being a werewolf, but what if Harry chooses to embrace it? If it's what he really wants, and if he's happy, do we have the right to rip that from him?"

Remus looked up at McGonagall through heavily lidded eyes.

"Minerva, tonight is the new moon. Do you know what that means?"

She shook her head.

"The new moon is also known as the mating moon. I trust you know understand what I mean by that."

Minerva's eyes widened dramatically. "The... the mating moon? As in –"

"Yes, precisely that," Remus said hurriedly. "And more, in fact. Harry will be bitten tonight. After that... it's going to be even harder to get him back."

The Headmistress walked over to Remus and squeezed his shoulder. "I don't know what to do, Remus."

He sighed. "I don't know either. I just want Harry back."

*FG-HP*

"You're pathetic," Fenrir said, as he watched Harry try to throw his hand-made spear once again.

"Am not!" snarled Harry. "I just... I can't throw very well is all."

"Clearly," the man said with a chuckle. He stepped behind the boy, determined to help him get it right. "Look here, pull your arm back but keep this –" he squeezed Harry's right bicep "– straight. Then you pull the forearm back... that's it... all the way now, and... throw!"

Harry hurled the spear through the air and it landed about thirty feet away where the pointed stone head collided with an old oak tree.

"Better, much better," Fenrir muttered and Harry bounced happily on the balls of his feet.

"So can we stop now, please?" he asked. He hadn't wanted to do this anyway, but Fenrir had insisted he needed to learn basic survivor skills if he were to live in the forest.

"I suppose," the man said with a yawn. He collected his spear and they trudged back to the cave.

When they got back there were a few pieces of the stag left for Fenrir's dinner, but nothing for Harry apart from the fruit.

"Its fine!" assured the boy when Fenrir had asked if he wanted anything else. "I'd much rather eat fruit than... that." He nodded towards the pile of stag meat.

"Good," said Fenrir, voice muffled from the huge chunk of dried stag already in his mouth.

They sat in silence for the good part of the meal, the only sounds being the chewing noises issuing from Fenrir's mouth, or the occasional crunch of an apple or pear from Harry's bites.

"Um, Fenrir?" said Harry timidly when he'd finished his food. "What... how do you know when... when we have to..."

"How do I know when it's fucking time?"

Harry scowled but nodded nonetheless.

"Once the sun disappears completely," he said, leaning back on his elbows lazily and closing his eyes lightly.

Harry looked to the sky. It was getting dim but the sun was still out, casting an orange light over the forest.

"Where are... where are we going to, you know... do it?" Harry's face turned a deep shade of crimson as he asked this.

"Wherever you like," muttered Fenrir, who seemed very much unbothered by the situation. "In the lake, on the grass, in a tree –"

"Wh... but... In a t-tree?" spluttered Harry.

Fenrir opened his eyes and stared at his pup. "Where do you want to be?"

"Well, I was thinking... in the bed," he suggested coyly.

"Typical human," he said with a sigh. "Okay, if that's what you really want."

Harry pulled his legs up to his chest where he wrapped his arms round them. It was bizarre how casually they were talking about where they were going to have their first – as Fenrir would put it – shag. But Harry realised that talking about it this indifferently made it a lot easier to deal with; it made the situation seem less daunting. There was one question Harry had been dying to ask, however. It was a thoroughly horrible thought but it needed to be voiced.

"One more thing," Harry said, his blush creeping back. "Will you... will you use lubricant?"

Fenrir raised one thick eyebrow and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Do you want me to?"

"Yes!" said Harry immediately.

"Then I will."

Harry felt much more relieved after asking that.

"Come join me, cub," called Fenrir, who was lying on the ground, arms behind his head and his eyes closed. Harry got up and ambled over to the man. He sat beside Fenrir and looked at the man's peaceful face. There was a strange but certain rugged beauty to the man. His unkemptness seemed to compliment the man's features: the stubble round the chiselled jaw, the rough, firm lips, the scarred yet longish nose, and the two amber eyes... the two amber eyes that were staring straight at him. Hurriedly he looked away, mortified to have been caught staring at the man with so much... fondness.

"So... Am I one for the looks?" came the gravelly voice right beside Harry's ear. He looked back to the man to discover he was extremely close to him, his head nearly resting on Harry's shoulder.

"You're not bad," said Harry, his voice a pitch higher than usual. He yelped when he felt the man's teeth nibble on the shell of his ear.

"Mmm, lie down, pup." Fenrir wrapped his arms round Harry's waist and pulled the lightweight boy on top of him. Harry didn't struggle; it turned out Fenrir's chest was quite comfortable. The chest hair was surprisingly soft.

"Why don't you take a nap," Fenrir mumbled. "I'll call you when it's time."

Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to sleep; when he next woke up he would have to lose his virginity. "I'm not sleepy."

"Trust me; it'll do you some good," Fenrir said through a yawn. "Gonna need your energy later, aren't you?"

Harry swallowed nervously. "Okay," he whispered and attempted to sleep.

*FG-HP*

All day long Remus couldn't stop fidgeting. The fact that it was the new moon and he was doing nothing to prevent Greyback mating with Harry was driving him mad. He knew he shouldn't interfere, seeing how strong moon magic is, but the idea of Harry being mated to someone like Greyback was making him feel sick to the stomach.

He sighed and, after much thought and deliberation came to the conclusion that interfering tonight during the mating moon would be exceedingly reckless. So, as much as it pained him to think it, he would have to try and get Harry back after he was changed. Yes, it would be harder, but surely if... if Fenrir was out of the picture Harry would want to come home?

In all honesty this was Remus' desperation getting to him. He wanted Harry to be back with him, safe under his watchful eye and free to live a life without the cares and worries of the full moon. And, if that meant killing the man who had taken Harry away then so be it.

Thanks to Assassin of the Shaddows for the idea of stag jerky :P

Some of you may be thinking WTF at the new moon timing being different to the normal 2 weeks. Well, that is a result of my bad timing in fics. So, since the world of Harry Potter is full of magic and wonderment, I thought that the new moon could be two days after the full, not 2 weeks. Why? Because anything's possible! :D

Thanks peoples :)

xxx