The Leader

Chapter 15

Remus Learns A Valuable Lesson

Remus groaned as he came around; his amber eyes blinked open, bewilderment flowed through him. Why was he in the middle of a field? The full moon! He remembered grasping onto the memories, especially those of last night. He could remember more about it than usual, why? He'd been a werewolf nearly all his life and he could never remember this much about what he did on the night of the full moon... especially without the Wolfsbane potion. A pack, his heart lurched, a true pack, his wolf had never been more content in its life. It had immediately submitted to the Alpha wolf. Surprisingly it wasn't an Omega, it was a Beta wolf...no, he was a Beta wolf. With his friends he'd been happy, but obviously his wolf hadn't been able to see them as a true pack. It was obvious to him now, wolves were pack animals, surviving alone had hurt his wolf ― he'd been lonely. Not once during the full moon had he bitten and scratched at himself. That's not to say he didn't hurt of course, but it was much less severe than normal.

"Here, put something decent on," demanded the Alpha. Jack, Remus remembered belatedly as clothes were flung at him―brand new ones with the tags still on, from Gladrags! He had never worn clothes from there before, they were far too expensive for him. He could barely afford robes; it took him ages to get the money for them. Then he wore them for years, patching them up whenever he needed to. The clothes were his size, he realized, his mind wondered if they'd been bought for him or if they'd been boxed away for months maybe years waiting on someone his size coming around. He didn't even think about disobeying the direct order from the Alpha; despite the fact the moon had come and gone his wolf was still part of his consciousness. It was practically purring at the attention the Alpha had given him! No, it wasn't because of the attention, was it? He realized quietly, as he dressed in the clothes after removing the tags, it was because he was being looked after by the Alpha as was his duty.

"Thank you," said Remus, after belatedly realizing he was being incredibly rude. Looking around the field, he noticed all the others were getting dressed, the females in the group were already dressed and had come from behind the large cave he hadn't seen when he'd been dragged there by Harry. He swallowed thickly; Harry was bloody terrifying when he wanted to be, he was certainly not the little boy he remembered holding in his arms when he was young. He was nothing like his parents, and it was high time he accepted that. Part of him had hoped he'd see something, anything, of Lily and James in him. What did he really know though? He'd only ever seen Harry three times, twice when he'd forced his apparently unwelcome presence on him. Once they were dressed, they seemed quite content to just lie there in the weak sun and relax.

"You look confused," stated the Alpha once he'd seen to everyone else. He had been asked by his Leader, Harry, to integrate him into a pack and have him accept his wolf.

Remus opened and closed his mouth a few times, wondering inwardly if he really wanted the answer to his question burning deep inside him. He had never seen himself transforming or what he looked like, for obvious reasons, but he'd been described as bloody terrifying by Pettigrew. Sirius had said it was slightly disconcerting, and James had just insisted it was awesome. Now what he had seen last night…could never be described as 'bloody terrifying'. They looked like normal wolves; he on the other hand did not look anything like that.

"Do…do I look like everyone else?" asked Remus, staring at the grass, somehow unable to look up. He didn't want to see any pity directed at him, he'd been around it too often to take it from this pack―no, his pack.

"No," replied the Alpha immediately, gazing down at the man. From what he'd gathered Remus had been a werewolf even longer than him, yet he was still unable to accept his wolf. He'd seen how thin he was, not as bad as Reg but Reg was a teenager, and had been starved for months practically before he ran and got to them. The change was harder on those that weren't healthy; he would need to speak to Harry about him. He somehow doubted Remus would stay here full time; he was too…wizard for that.

Remus' head snapped up, his amber eyes meeting those of the Alpha who had the same colouring as him. He didn't see any pity or disgust in them; no, they were neutral, as if he didn't have a problem in the world. Maybe they didn't, it must be nice just lounging around here, not having to worry about much. That hadn't always been true though, had it? Harry had been clear on the fact that nearly all these people had been living it rough, in the forests eating what they could when they could. Remus wished he could do the same, but there was a war going on out there, he had to do his part.

"Everyone here has accepted their wolf; for better or for worse it's what we are. Trying to deny it just causes more pain and turmoil. When you accept your wolf, fully embrace it, you will look like us too," stated Jack, answering the unasked question in those confused amber eyes. He knew what it was like, trying to pretend he wasn't a werewolf, but inevitably it caught up with him. "The form you take reflects the madness within; it doesn't help that you are killing yourself."

"What?!" cried Remus, abruptly frowning, what did he mean by that? He wasn't killing himself! A shudder ran through him, was his form truly reflecting the madness within him? Was he considered mad because he couldn't accept his wolf form?

"What do you think the Wolfsbane potion does?" sneered Jack, growling under his breath, he could have killed the wizard who had invented such a thing. "Added to the fact you are extremely unhealthy, by our standards, you wouldn't have lasted much longer."

Remus paled, swaying where he sat on the grass, trying to keep his stomach from rebelling dangerously. Harry had mentioned something about the Wolfsbane Potion being dangerous, but he hadn't paid any attention to it ― not with everything else Harry had said ― including the information on Dumbledore and how manipulative he was. Was the potion really having that bad an effect on his body?

"Alpha?" said Reg, coming forward and staring at him unsurely.

"Come," said Jack, and the teenager all but moulded himself against the strong warm alpha. He wasn't sure why Reg was so clingy, they'd never asked, but his speculation was that Reg had been a wolf longer than they thought. Locked up from civilization and never receiving comfort, so that he clung onto the one who helped him. Most parents when their child was bitten hated them, became disgusted and wanted nothing further to do with them. Now that would have been preferable to what they'd done to Reg, but he didn't mind giving the cub of the pack the comfort he obviously needed. He didn't know his own age, but they'd speculated he was in his late teens, unless he was naturally tall.

"Stop taking the potion, and eat what your body is telling you to eat," growled Jack, lacing his words with authority and hoping the werewolf would heed his words. "We need to eat raw meat, it keeps us healthy."

"Can we go back now? I'm hungry," said Reg. They normally were already heading back by this.

"Head back to the warehouse!" shouted Jack, watching as the others all began Apparating; he stayed behind to make sure they all left. Once they were all gone, including Remus, he Apparated himself and Reg there himself. Reg couldn't Apparate; he was magical of course, since Muggles did not survive the change. He was planning on showing him how, but he would wait until Reg was in better health. He didn't have a wand either; he would need to inform Harry that he would need one soon.

Other than the werewolves there were only a few others there, but they were at their stations, guarding the area from anyone stupid enough to come near. They never went lax in their security, the building and the surrounding areas were theirs, and they'd be damned if they let anyone get their hands on it.

"Get in and eat something," grumbled Jack, seeing Remus just standing there like a spare end. They were always like that when they first came here―confused, weary, cautious; he would learn ― they all did. Not waiting to see if he would join them, he went in, Reg as always glued to his side. Nobody even twitched at the sight anymore. It wasn't as though the others were nasty to Reg, in fact he liked them all, he just preferred being with Jack.

Remus looked inside, wondering if he should just Apparate away…but he didn't have the guts to go back to Potter Manor. As worried as he was about what had happened to Sirius, he never wanted to be humiliated like that again, and by a teenager no less. Taking a deep breath, he reluctantly joined them; the urge to flee returned when he saw what they were eating. Jack, the Alpha hadn't been kidding when he said they ate raw meat. Listen to what your body is telling you to eat, he'd said; he just felt sick at the look of it, but was it his mind or body that felt sick?

Reg grabbed a big handful of meat, before putting it on an empty plate and urged the newcomer towards the table. The food never lasted long, so he knew Remus should eat it now. "I know how it feels; until I got here I'd never eaten anything raw, not even in the wild for the first month after I got away. It's good, your body won't reject it, trust me!" he said grinning at the older man, trying to make him more at home. Just like the others had done for him; he realized they'd probably been nicer because he was so young―this situation confirmed it.

Remus was not able to turn his face up at the young boy, or say the thoughts on his mind, not that he'd survive it! The Alpha had taken a liking to the young boy. He reluctantly picked up a piece of the raw meat; the second the tastes exploded on his tongue he was lost. Raw and bloody food was not supposed to taste like this; to make it worse, he found his stomach was actually full after eating a plate of it. He could have eaten all the wizarding food in sight but never felt this full in his life. Part of him hated that Jack was right; this had obviously been what his body needed.

"Good night?" questioned Harry, entering the building; nobody jumped other than Remus ― indicating that it may be a common occurrence. He knew it had been, he had wards all over the place, including the area the werewolves roamed on the full moon. Should they be attacked he wanted to make sure he was there to take care of them as any proper leader should.

"Stay," said Jack, speaking to everyone, including Reg before standing up.

Remus bit his tongue, he knew deep down they were going to talk about him! He was a grown man, he didn't need to be spoken about like a toddler. Swallowing the words he wanted to let loose, he instead looked around the warehouse; it was different from what he expected. Warehouses were supposed to be empty, bleak and just generally unused. This place may have been a warehouse at one point, but it had been heavily converted to suit what could only be Harry's needs or perhaps the people here.

"How did it go?" asked Harry, non-verbally casting a silencing spell; both of them had their backs to the pack, so nobody could read their lips.

"His wolf accepted the pack right away, if we could call it a wolf," said Jack, "We might see a significant change next full moon, but it's all down to him and whether he accepts himself or not."

"Good," stated Harry, quite happy with that.

"Is he staying here?" questioned Jack.

"I do not think he has anywhere else to go, but I'll need to find out what happened first," replied Harry firmly.

Jack nodded, "Severus also brought up something interesting," he added a little reluctantly.

"Which was?" enquired Harry; he must be settling in if he was contributing, it made a smirk settle on his face.

"That Greyback and what's left of his pack might welcome this side; Severus said they treat him like crap. The prospect of being treated with respect might win him over," Jack told him. It wasn't as if they were the light side, fighting for the Ministry or anything like that. "It might be worth consideration, we don't like fighting our own, but you know we will do whatever it takes to survive."

"I know," said Harry grimly, understanding. He didn't like fighting the vampires either, but he wanted control and with that came bloodshed. "I'll see what I can do; it will be risky, there's every chance of being betrayed."

"Then we kill him and his pack, exterminate His side; it might prevent other werewolves from making the same mistakes," said Jack coldly, the ruthless Alpha streak showing through. One that would go to any lengths to protect its pack and cubs, not that they had any pups as of yet.

"That's always a plus," mused Harry, his eyes glinting in cold vindication.

"Yes," agreed Jack, his look just as cold.

"We will discuss it at greater length soon," stated Harry, removing the spells. "Let's go," he added to Remus, his voice impassive once more.

"Oh, I forgot to add, Reg will need a wand soon," added Jack, it was the one thing they didn't have ― a wand-maker on their side.

"Then he must earn it; perhaps he should go with you to gather food for a week," Harry told him, not only would he gain a wand but learn to hunt. Jack had the pack hunt the food they would eat, otherwise they would get bored, plus they didn't like frozen meat, or meat that had been frozen then thawed. They caught enough for a few days, placing preservation charms on it.

"Really?" asked Reg perking up, hunting sounded so fun he'd always wanted to join them. His Alpha always told him he wasn't fit enough to hunt prey, that he would have to learn first once he was better. He did read behind the lines and realize though that he would hold them back, and make it more difficult for them. They didn't use their wands to get the prey, preferring to catch them with the pack with a knife or bare hands. The werewolves rarely used their wands, unless it came to a battle where others were actually using them, but if it was a fight between werewolves it was traditionally fought the hard way. With their fists, feet and teeth.

Jack nodded without a further word, and wandered back to his pack, idly wondering if Remus would be back. If he didn't come back, he knew the wolf in Remus would be furious to be away from its pack; it would do its best to get back to them even if it had to fight tooth and nail. Only time would tell really, he had done as asked, what the wizard chose to do now was entirely up to him.

"Where is Sirius?" asked Remus tentatively as he approached the wizard, wary of his extreme temper shifts. Each time he'd seen him, he'd been shown a different facet of Harry's character; he had not much liked either facet if he was completely honest.

Harry did not reply, just grabbed a hold of the werewolf, much more delicately than he had last night, aware that there would be lingering bone-aching pains still present. For someone who hadn't had the potion he made to help ease the transformation, he was in remarkable condition. Usually if they didn't take it they were bed bound for at least a few days, recovering. Although he could just be used to it to the extent that his pain tolerance was higher than normal. Still, he wasn't about to allow the wizard/werewolf remain in pain, so as soon as he Apparated them to Potter Manor he summoned a pain reliever, and gave it to the wizard without a word, but he did glare something fierce.

Remus seemingly knew better than to say anything, instead he gratefully downed the potion, barely tasting it. He felt so lost, at sea, and he hadn't felt like this since his first year at Hogwarts. He had never been away from his parents before Hogwarts, not even for a single night. Then suddenly he was sharing a dorm with four other boys, worrying about the full moon, the lies he would have to tell. He had thought he knew everything, that he was smart; right now he felt anything but.

"Sit down," stated Harry firmly, taking a seat in his favourite chair, one that was in the corner so he could observe everything. Not that it was usually needed, since Potter Manor was his home, and nobody got to come in uninvited. Until one stubborn werewolf decided he wanted to be on his side. "Now, tell me what happened and why neither you nor Black can go back?"

"When Sirius realized Dumbledore had purposely sent Severus to a vampire clan, he told Dumbledore to leave, that he wasn't getting to use Grimmauld Place again and to consider him no longer in the Order," croaked Remus, his disbelief still obvious.

"He what? WHY?" gaped Severus, revealing himself to the two creatures, who had both known he was there ― they could smell him miles away.

"He asks a good question; from what I can gather they hate each other both in mutual measures." added Harry, finding it extremely odd himself.

"I thought so too, but it wasn't until this happened that I realized Sirius had been really quiet at Order meetings lately. I mean really quiet; I thought it was because he was feeling depressed…I just don't know, I'm really surprised at what he did," admitted Remus tiredly, running his fingers through his greasy hair.

Harry shared a look with Severus, wondering if the wizard could explain it, but he just wordlessly shook his head his black eyes filled with surprise and disbelief. One of the few genuine emotions he'd seen on his face yet, and Harry liked seeing them more than he should. His traitorous mind wondered what he would look like writhing underneath him, lost in the throes of passion that he could elicit from the stoic man. He wouldn't be so stoic if he was being thoroughly fucked, Harry thought to himself smugly, inconspicuously adjusting himself; he turned his attention back to the current situation at hand. "That didn't explain the injuries on him," Harry said, he'd had to give the wizard three potions as well as a dreamless sleep to keep him out of it.

"Sirius was in the process of taking the Fidelius Charm off Grimmauld Place when we were attacked, or rather he was; I was up the stairs. Not wanting Grimmauld Place discovered, he began fighting back against the Aurors, getting them outside in the open. I came down the stairs, that was masked by Sirius' mother's portrait yelling and shrieking. Apparently nobody can hurt her son save for her; she was actually furious at them for aiming their wands at him!" exclaimed Remus, ruefully shaking his head. "I Apparated into the middle of the fray when it was obvious he wasn't going to leave. I think he was trying to protect me, the bloody idiot that he is."

"Will they be able to get into Grimmauld Place?" asked Harry. So, the name of the Order's Headquarters had been Grimmauld Place. Interesting; he had obviously successfully taken the Fidelius Charm down; otherwise they wouldn't have been able to mention it by name. It alarmed him just how close he had been to it; they were both in London of course, so yes, he was daunted by it.

"No, it's locked down," denied Remus. "It locked down the second I closed the door, only Sirius will be able to get back in, and those he allows."

"So Dumbledore went straight to the Aurors after he was kicked out; he must have been furious to make such a stupid mistake," said Severus, scoffing in disgust at the Gryffindor move. Not only would the Aurors have interrogated him, but he would have gotten the name of every Order member found out. Shacklebolt, Tonks and the other Ministry workers would have been arrested as traitors and belonging to a 'vigilante group'. Unless…. Of course, it made sense. So Severus spoke again, his voice grim. "He expected them to take Dementors with them; he was expecting Black would be kissed."

Remus shuddered, the undeniable truth tingling through the air.

"Still, it doesn't make sense, why would Black risk it?" Harry stated calmly, his fingers drumming across the armrest, as he contemplated possible answers. "We are about to find out, he's just woken up."

"Can I go for him? Please," asked and begged Remus, knowing just how overwhelming Harry could be. To make matters worse, he had no idea how Sirius would react to seeing Harry, and him being a vampire to boot.

"Five minutes," conceded Harry, the less he had to do with Black the better. Once Remus was gone he turned to the standing wizard beside him. "Well, things have just gotten interesting, wouldn't you say?"

"I'll admit I'm curious, but considering Black is a Gryffindor, the answer will probably be something simply insipid," sneered Severus, wishing he actually felt the confidence in what he was saying. Truth be told, he was still shocked to the core; why would Black take his Order membership and shove it sideways up Dumbledore's candy arse because of him? Something wasn't making sense about all this and he wanted answers ― Harry did too, by the look of things.

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