Wolf Lord
Chapter One
By Mell8

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~The Ministry regulates werewolves. Already in 1637 there was a Werewolf Code of Conduct (PS16). Dolores Umbridge was instrumental in the passage of restrictive anti-werewolf legislation that Sirius said made it almost impossible for Lupin to get a job. (OP14)

~According to Scamander, werewolves have been shunted between the Beast and Being Divisions of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures for years. At one point, the Werewolf Registry and Werewolf Capture Unit were both in the Beast Division, while at the same time the office for Werewolf Support Services was in the Being Division.

--Taken from the Harry Potter Lexicon on Werewolves.

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Present:

The wolf’s howl broke the stillness of the full moon night, arresting the chirping of the crickets and leaving behind total silence in it’s wake.

Wolf looked up at the huge yellow orb that dominated the midnight sky and smiled condescendingly with a barring of sharp teeth. He stopped the return howl from leaving his throat with little effort, as it was terribly demeaning to answer the cry of a common wolf, and loped off after his parents.

This was their last run together before he got on an airplane and went across the Ocean to attend Hogwarts and he wanted to enjoy it.

His father’s white fur stood out vibrantly in the green, late summer brush and Wolf easily chased after the flicking tail. His father jumped out of the way and mockingly snorted as Wolf skidded to a stop on his four paws to avoid crashing into the tree his father had just been scent marking.

An answering snort behind him made Wolf turn around and growl under his breath. His mother, a wolf such a deep red that she could be mistaken for a pool of blood in the right circumstances, stood on a small hillock behind him. She mockingly bowed her head towards her only son and leader of their pack before jumping down and tackling her mate.

Wolf lifted his tail in the air in an arrogant but joking dismissal and left his parents to their play. He had to check on the new cubs one last time to make sure they could control their wolves and would not have any problems while he was away. Then he had to make sure that his father and Ben, the second and third in the pack, knew exactly what to do if something went wrong.

In the morning he would be boarding a plane to London and would be leaving behind his werewolf pack for the first time since he had been born. Everything here must be settled so he did not worry while he was away.

He sniffed the ground and found Ben’s scent up ahead. With Ben and his father in control the pack would still be okay when he returned.


III


Wolf groaned as he stepped off the train and stopped a second to crack his back and stretch his face to the sky.
The smells here were so different than what he was used to. Everything was wet and had a moldy overtone from the water that made his nose writhe in disgust. At the same time the magic that imbued every scent make him want to change into his other form and explore everything further on his four paws.

He had long practice at ignoring the wolf’s cravings and was able to step forward and join the crowds of students streaming towards the road instead of transforming on the spot.

“Firs’ years this way!”

Wolf sniffed and grimaced. He could smell a half giant, but, if what his parents said was correct, an untrained half giant. As far as Wolf knew, Hagrid was the only being at this school with the capabilities to unearth the secret that he was a werewolf. A mere Witch or Wizard would never be able to tell but a giant had other magical powers that could discern his wolf identity; not that the Ministry allowed giants the means to use such magic...

Wolf smirked and made his way over towards Hagrid.

“Firs’ years!”

Wolf dodged around a group of smaller children and let his smirk shine coldly down in response to their shocked expressions. He knew intimately what had surprised them so much, after all it was his own body they stared, slack jawed, at.

He had his father’s height and was well over six feet, but instead of being lanky like the adolescent pictures he had seen of his mother’s various siblings, his thin frame was corded with muscle.

But the oddest and most astonishing feature was on his head.

He was a genetic anomaly, born only because of his parents combined magic and his own sheer will to live, even as an unborn fetus. Part of the anomaly had resulted in his strength in the pack at only sixteen but the other had manifested on his human form.

Exactly half of his body hair was the white blond of his father and the other half was the blood red of his mother. It was as if a line had been drawn from the top of his head, down the middle of his nose, and through his belly button. His left arm and leg were blond and his right, red. This included the hair on his head. But the oddest part was that the line where the two colors merged was a thick pink stripe of hair.

Wolf had shaved both sides of his head smooth with a spell and had left only the pink stripe to grow into a mohawk. It was frightfully clear that these sheltered children had never seen a hairstyle like his before.

“Hello,” Wolf called as he reached Hagrid. “Technically this is my first year here but I’m much older than the rest of the first years. Where should I go?”

The half-giant looked down at Wolf and smiled through his shaggy beard. “Now don’ worry. You take tha’ carriages an’ someone’ll be waitin’ for you. Firs’ years, over ‘ere!”

Wolf nodded and turned to follow the rest of the students around the bend in the road to where the carriages waited.
He was glad that he was downwind of the thestrals because they would have smelt him and gone wild with fear. Wolf climbed into an empty carriage and closed the door behind him.

The thestral took off and Wolf closed his eyes.

“I need to hide everything from these people,” he mumbled to himself. “I am here for one purpose only and revealing my parentage and my wolf to these incompetent fools would only hinder the completion of my goals.”

He pictured a room in his mind, one with walls made of cement and a door that could be locked behind him. In that room he shoved all the knowledge of his other self; everything that he did not want someone with the abilities of Legilimency to see should they decide to scan his mind.
He closed the door and covered it with mental chains and a padlock before opening his eyes.

When the carriage stopped he dismounted and made his way with the other students into the Entrance Hall.

He had just stepped through the giant wooden doors when a mousy brown haired woman appeared at his side.

“You must be Wolf,” she said with a smile that did not quite hide the shock in her eyes as she gestured for him to follow her down a side hallway. Her eyes skimmed curiously over his clothes and focused on his hair for a long second in which he could almost see lists of hair dying spells running through her mind. Her eyes finally caught that his uniform shirt was held loosely in his hands so she swallowed whatever caustic reprimand she had on the tip of her tongue and continued her speech.

“Welcome to Hogwarts! I’m Professor Granger-Weasley, of Charms class, and the Deputy Headmistress of this school. Now, Hogwarts is a magical academy for Witches and Wizards. We have four houses, Gryffindor, I’m head of that house, Ravenclaw-”

“I’ve done my reading,” Wolf said rudely. He had no wish to listen to this human prattle on in her know-it-all voice that made his sensitive ears ache. “There is no need for you to reiterate information I already know.” He sneered.

She huffed. “I’ll have you know that I expect a certain amount of cordiality in my classes. I will give you a reprieve tonight as it is your first day in the school but such behavior will not be excused again!”

She stopped outside of a door that did not block the smell of wet clothes and scared children that filtered from behind it.

“Now, the first years will be sorted first, then I will announce you to the school and you will be sorted into your house. You can take your year placement test tomorrow. If you have any further questions I’m sure that your housemates or your Head of House will be willing to help you.”

She opened the door and Wolf waited in the hallway while she gave a speech to the gathered eleven year olds. He followed silently as they made their way back into the Entrance Hall and waited just outside of the doors to the Great Hall when the first years were led into the room.

A ripped old hat sang a song and Granger-Weasley; he had to sneer at her name; pulled out a list and began to call out names. One by one the first years were sorted. He started, surprised, when Weasley, Molly was sorted into Gryffindor and watched curiously as his younger cousin joined a large group of red haired children at the Gryffindor table.

Apparently he had relatives that his mother did not know about. It was something to include in his next letter at least.

“Now, students, before I give you to our Headmistress for announcements I have a very special student to introduce to you all!”

Wolf sneered at her chipper tone and stalked into the room. His smirk grew at the shocked gasps and all eyes followed him as he stalked between the tables towards Granger-Weasley.

He was wearing a skintight black shirt with a pink skull (the same color as his hair) pulled tight across his hard chest. He still held the white uniform shirt in one hand but his current shirt combined with the non-regulation black jeans and his mohawk was enough to shock the entire hall.

“This is Wolf…” she paused and glanced down at the roll of parchment in her hands for the rest of his name.

“My name is Wolf,” he said coldly as he walked up to where she was standing. “I don’t have a last name.”

He settled gracefully on the three-legged stool and put the disgusting hat on his head. The brim barely touched the tip of his hair when a rip opened and shouted, “Slytherin!”

A table on the far side of the room clapped politely for him and, judging by their green ties and the snake adorning their robes, they were the Slytherins.

Wolf glided over to the table and took a seat in the middle across from a boy who looked like the leader of the group.

“Well, that was exciting!” An old woman stood in the center of the Professors table and addressed the hungry crowd. “Welcome first years, welcome Wolf, and welcome all returning students, to another year at Hogwarts. I am your Headmistress, Professor McGonagall. Now, I have a couple announcements. Mr. Filch has an extensive list of items that are banned from use in the corridors hanging on his office door. Included on that list are all items sold by Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.” She smiled tightly around the room and Wolf wondered how she was still alive. He knew that Witches had a longer lifespan than regular humans but that still did not explain why a woman who had been ancient when his parents were in school was still alive and teaching now.

“The Forbidden Forest is still forbidden and is highly dangerous so please refrain from entering the trees. The centaurs are still not welcoming to humans.” Her reproving glare caught on the huddle of red heads at the Gryffindor table.

“Professor Lupin, your Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, is out tonight as it is the day after the full moon, but will be teaching tomorrow as planned.”

How weak, Wolf scoffed. A werewolf should welcome the change. If the human embraced the wolf, the wolf would not hurt the human body, rather, the wolf would give the human body advantages it would not normally have. Also, the wolf would never debilitate the human body so much that the human would have to spend time recuperating. Obviously this “Professor Lupin” had fallen to the stereotypes this society shoveled on werewolves. It was a wonder that he was allowed to teach with all of the negative stigma that surrounded his kind influencing parents against him.

Food appeared on the tables and Wolf filled his plate with enough to feed three normal people. He was hungry and if he didn’t keep his human side fed, his wolf would try to take over to hunt.

“So you’re Wolf.” The leader of the Slytherins said slowly.

“That is my name,” Wolf answered with a sneer.

“My name is Nott, Theodore Nott, after my father.”

“I’m Violet Nott!” A first year piped up from next to her brother. “You might have heard of our parents? Pansy and Theodore Nott?”

Wolf lifted his blonde eyebrow and sneered. “I’ve never had the displeasure.”

“Who are your parents?” A big, hulking boy said from the other side of the Nott boy. “I’m Goyle, Timothy Goyle. My parents are Gregory and Millicent Goyle. Purebloods of course,” he said stupidly.

Wolf sneered. “My parents are none of your concern. Nor do I care whether your parents were pure bloods or pigs, although I suspect the latter is true.”

A black haired boy with snapping green eyes laughed from further down the table. “Thank you so much for saying that. I’ve been waiting for someone to tell them off for years! I’m Cody Greengrass.”

Nott snorted. “He’s a useless waste of space. His mother was a whore who got herself pregnant without a husband.”

Cody just brushed away the bridle with long practiced ease. “Yeah, my Mum’s still single and she’s happy that way. These idiots care more about outward appearances and reputations than the person themselves. Ignore them.”

Wolf smiled over to Cody. “Thanks for the advice.” He glanced down the table and saw that a couple of people were nodding in agreement with Cody while others, the Nott siblings included, where glaring at the dark haired boy.

Wolf filled his plate with seconds and continued to eat. He watched the table as he ate and saw that it was pretty cleanly divided. The seats near the middle were all filled with students who supported Nott and his ideas of purebloods while the seats at both ends were filled with students who either disagreed or didn’t care either way.

Cody sat alone. Wolf guessed that it was because the boy was so vocal about his disagreements with Nott and the rest of the house was too afraid of Nott to openly side with Cody.

In fact, the longer Wolf watched Cody eat, the more sure he became that the boy was injured. He was only using his left hand to eat and kept his right arm firmly against his body. Wolf couldn’t smell blood or even what exactly was wrong with the arm because of the distance between them and the smells of the food disrupting his nose, but he was sure that he was the only student to notice.

Dessert came and went and the students began to get up from the table.

“Wolf!” The dark skinned Professor he had seen at the staff table called from the doors. Wolf shrugged apologetically at Cody and moved away from him to meet the Professor.

“Welcome to Slytherin.” The Professor said with a small smile as he led Wolf down a side passage into the dungeons. “I’m Professor Zabini, Potions, and the Slytherin Head of House. I wanted to finalize your sleeping arrangements before I take you down to your Common Room.”

Wolf nodded and followed Zabini into an office in the dungeons.

“Now, I’ve taken the liberty of placing you in the sixth year dorm since you’re sixteen. The exam tomorrow will test your knowledge of magic and your practical skills with a wand. What year of classes you will be taking depends on the results of that test and, unless you wish to switch, you may stay in the sixth year dorm despite the year level of classes you join.”

Wolf nodded coolly to Zabini. “I understand Sir.”

“Professor Granger-Weasley has also asked that I remind you to wear the required uniform from now on,” Zabini sneered hatefully, showing exactly what he thought of the Charms Professor. “Follow me,” Zabini finished. “I’ll show you to your dorm now.”


III


Wolf entered a room with four beds. One had the green curtains pulled shut. Boys getting changed for bed occupied two beds and the last one was empty and had his trunk at the foot.

“I’m Jeremy, that’s Prometheus, we call him Buddy,” the dark tan skinned boy on the bed nearest the door pointed first to himself then to the other visible boy, a pale skinned, brown haired, chubby boy who was struggling with his night shirt.

Jeremy brushed his dark brown hair out of his eyes and finally pointed to the closed bed. “You’ve already met Cody. He’s a strange one and Nott hates him so be careful.”

Wolf nodded. “I’m sure you already know my name.” The other boys laughed. “I’m going to tell you right now that I hate curfews so I’m probably going to be spending quite a few nights out of bed.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make some excuse for you,” Buddy said with a slow grin. “As long as you look the other way for our little “indiscretions”.” Buddy winked and Jeremy shaped an hourglass figure in the air with his hands while thrusting his hips forward suggestively.

Wolf laughed. “It’s a deal.” He turned towards the covered bed. “The same goes for you, Cody. I know you’re still awake.”

There was a rustling of cloth and Cody stuck his dark head through the space in the curtains.

“Sounds good to me.” He said softly.

Wolf walked over to Cody’s head and whispered softly, “you might was to staunch the bleeding. If it gets any worse the other two might notice. And you should tell me exactly what caused it.”

Wolf watched as Cody’s eyes grew wide and he quickly slid out of sight again.

It was infuriating to Wolf that he could not place the scent of what caused the wound in Cody’s arm. It was familiar but in such a twisted way that he couldn’t place it.

With an inward snarl Wolf began to strip off his clothes in preparation for bed. He would find out what was wrong with Cody eventually but he was tired and still jetlagged from his long trip so further investigation would have to wait.


III


Past:


Ginny Weasley looked from at the giant chunk missing in her thigh to the dead creature bleeding at her feet with eyes brimming with tears.

She didn’t feel any pain and was ignoring the extensive bleeding. Instead, her mind was still focused on what had happened only a few seconds ago.

A giant wolf had dashed around the corner, had caught sight of her and, before she could point her wand, had taken a bite out of her leg. The Reductor Curse had destroyed the werewolf’s skull but the damage had already been done.

A werewolf had bitten Ginny.

How could she survive as a werewolf? How would her family cope?

Ginny felt a cold shiver run down her spine at the last thought. Her family would do the best they could; they loved her and would support her even if she changed into a wild and dangerous animal once a month. But buying one dose of Wolfsbane potion or even just the ingredients, many of which were illegal, cost more than her father made in a month and would tax her family terribly. How could she do that to them?

No, she loved her family too much to force them to suffer because she was a werewolf.

The tears flowed faster as this realization formed into a halfhearted plan. She would run away. Surely she could find somewhere where she would never be found.

Ginny wavered on her feet, both from blood loss and the knowledge that she could never see her family again.

Wouldn’t it hurt her family more if she disappeared? What if they thought she had died? That would make them suffer unnecessarily.

Ginny shook her head angrily. Those were weak thoughts from the baby inside of her that was not ready to leave the nest. No, if she wanted to save her family she needed to be strong. She couldn’t give in to any other influences.

Voldemort was dead; she had seen Harry kill him. Right now she could see her mother and father hugging the twins. Bill and Charlie were supporting Ron as her youngest older brother had shattered his leg while diving in front of a curse meant for Hermione. Even Percy was there.

Her family had plenty of support. Together they would survive if she disappeared. They would always wonder what had happened to her but they would survive. It would definitely be best if she left.

Ginny lifted her wand in a leaden fist.

“Take me away to somewhere safe; somewhere my family would never find me,” she whispered a soft prayer to her wand before twisting on her uninjured leg and Apparating.

She was in complete blackness. The air was being squeezed out of her lungs and the pressure grew the longer she hurtled through Apparition space. Ginny struggled to find air and knew that she was suffocating. Finally she popped back into the real world and as the bright light hit her eyes she fainted.


III


“You’ll survive,” were the first two words she heard once her eyes were fully open. Ginny blinked dimly up at the hospital green colored ceiling before slowly turning her head towards the voice.

“I’m Ben.” He was sitting on a chair at her bedside and smiled gently at her. His long russet colored hair, a shade so unassociated with the Weasley family orange that Ginny hardly noticed the color, was pulled back into a messy tail at the base of his skull. His dark brown eyes gently welcomed her.

“You gave me quite the scare, appearing out of mid-air like that. Plus you got blood all over my kitchen!” He laughed and swung his legs in the chair like an excited child. Ginny’s stomach growled and Ben laughed again. “So you’re hungry Wolf-girl? Makes sense since you’ve been unconscious for over two weeks. Wait right here. I’ll go get some soup for you.” He jumped up from his chair and scampered out of the room.

Ginny’s mind slowly began to focus on more than the fact that the wall color was horrid. Ben was gone for a full minute before she realized that he had called her “Wolf-girl”. How had he known?

She struggled to sit up and although she felt terribly weak she was finally able to manage it.

Ben bounced back into the room, carefully balancing a tray with a brimming bowl of soup on it in his hands. Somehow he managed not to spill a drop.

“Oh! You were able to sit up by yourself. You’re recovering faster than I thought.” Ben helped her sit up the rest of the way while balancing the tray with one hand before gently placing the tray in her lap.

Ginny grimaced at the yellow broth with a piece of soggy bread floating in it but slowly picked up her spoon and began to eat. After the fifth spoonful her hand was shaking too badly to hold the spoon.

“Here, Wolf-girl. Let me help.” Ben gently plucked the spoon from her grasp and helped her finish the rest of the bowl.

“Ben,” Ginny slurred tiredly, “why do you call me Wolf-girl?”

Ben smiled softly, “no questions for right now. I’ll tell you more when you wake up.”

Three days passed in much the same fashion. Ben would be there when she woke, would help her to the bathroom, she would eat, and then she would fall asleep from exhaustion.

She was able to eat the entire bowl without Ben’s help by the fourth day but fell asleep just as quickly.

It wasn’t until the sixth day that Ginny was strong enough to stay awake after eating.

“Ben, please.” Ginny looked up at the man. “See, I’m awake. I’m feeling much better, thank you. Now will you answer my questions?”

Ben looked indecisive so Ginny pouted. He finally gave in.

“All right, Ginny,” Ben sighed. “Let me tell you what I know, then you can ask any remaining questions you have.”
He waited for Ginny’s nod before continuing.

“My name is Ben and I’m the Alpha Wolf for the werewolf pack in this town. I know you’re a werewolf because I can smell it on you. I could tell the second you showed up in my kitchen.”

“Alpha Wolf?” Ginny asked softly. She was beginning to get tired again but didn’t want Ben to see because he would stop his explanation.

Ben groaned and rubbed his forehead with his fist. “You’re one of them, then?” He asked with a grimace.
“Them?” Ginny asked.

“What he means, Weasley, is that you live under the control of the Ministry of Magic where werewolf society has been destroyed and then warped into the diseased creation of fear the Ministry portrays it as.”

Ginny whipped her head around and gasped. A tall, white-blonde haired boy sneered at her from the doorway. His grey eyes snapped towards Ben.

“I’ve had enough with making chicken broth. She’s obviously awake so I want to make steaks…raw steaks.” He licked his lips.

“Malfoy?” Ginny breathed angrily but exhaustion was slowly creeping up and it was becoming difficult to keep her eyes open no matter how hard she fought.

“Shhhh, go to sleep, Ginny. We’ll talk again in the morning.” Ben gently pulled the covers up to her chin before shooing Malfoy out the door.

Yes, they would certainly talk when she woke up again, Ginny thought before succumbing to sleep.

Wolf Lord

Chapter Two

By Mell8



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~A werewolf comes into being when a person is bitten by another werewolf. Once this happens, the person must learn to manage the condition. Modern potion-making has come up with a draught called Wolfsbane Potion which controls some of the worst effects of the condition (PA18). Wolfsbane Potion is quite difficult to make, even for fully qualified wizards, and is said to have a rather disgusting taste (PA8). Nothing will completely cure a werewolf, unfortunately.


~A werewolf when transformed is a fearsome beast indeed. All trace of human awareness is gone and the werewolf will attack any witch or wizard, including the werewolf's best friends. This transformation is triggered when the moon is full, although there is some evidence that a werewolf who is taking a regular regimen of Wolfsbane Potion will not transform until the moonlight actually strikes him.


--Taken from the Harry Potter Lexicon on Werewolves.


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Present:


Wolf looked down at the test in front of him and snorted. “Question One: Which end of a wand do you hold when casting spells? Question Two: Are the wand movements for the Levitation charm, Flick and Swish, or, Swish and Flick?”

Wolf groaned and banged his head on the table. He flipped to the last question at the end of the test and sighed in relief. This stuff was seventh year material and was actually worth his consideration. He slowly began filling out the answers but with a normal pen, not those damnable quills and ink the rest of the school used. He purposely got enough answers wrong so he would get into advanced N.E.W.T. level sixth year classes instead of seventh year as he worked his way backwards through the test.

When Wolf got to number one he wrote, “preferably the end that won’t cause me bodily harm, stupid!” before tossing the Charms test across the room where it landed in a heap.
Wolf pulled the next test, Defense Against the Dark Arts, towards him and began filling in answers about spells and counter curses and the second section about animals. He could easily fill in the information about vampires and werewolves. In fact, the test was so easy that Wolf almost forgot to prune out the seventh year questions.

He did the same for Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology and then grudgingly began to fill out star charts and rune arrangements. On his History of Magic test he wrote, “I don’t need to learn this crap,” and tossed it off with the Charms test.

An hour and a half after he entered the room, Wolf finished. He had at least another hour to wait until a Professor would come to check on his progress.

He leaned back in his chair and began to doodle on his arm. A while later he had a finished picture of a wolf howling at the full moon on the flesh of his forearm and was decidedly bored.

Wolf rocked backwards on his chair and whined in the high-pitched sound that only a canine could make. He wanted to shift into his furry skin and run around the castle. There were so many smells to learn, so many nooks and crannies to discover, and so much room to run without crossing the path of a human!

His legs itched with need and Wolf whined again. He stood and paced the room, fighting to control his wolf. He had changed on the full moon two days ago so his wolf should be placated but the long plane ride and the new surroundings had woken up its curiosity.

Tonight then, when all his roommates were asleep, he would go for a quick run around the castle and grounds. He sent that reassurance inward where his wolf was pacing under his skin and it grudgingly calmed. The human was the more dominant creature in their relationship and while the wolf could heckle and pace, Wolf was in control.

He had finally decided to just leave and return to his dorm when the worst possible person to meet up with in a lonely room pushed the door open.

Professor Lupin strode in and froze in place the second Wolf’s scent reached his nose. He shook himself with a grimace and forced what was undoubtedly his wolf back before beginning to gather Wolf’s tests.

“These will be scored by tonight. You should expect your schoolbooks to arrive at breakfast next morning.” Lupin looked up, caught Wolf’s eyes for half a second before immediately lowering them back to Wolf’s shoulders.

Wolf held back his own wolf’s reaction to the impertinence of this lesser cub. How dare a mere pup pretend to be his equal!

Lupin must have felt some of what Wolf was fighting to suppress because his back unconsciously curled inward. If he had been in wolf form, Lupin would have been groveling on the ground with his tale between his legs.

With more effort than Wolf thought ought to be necessary he suppressed the angry reaction from his wolf. What was it that made it so difficult to control his wolf? He had never had a problem like this since he was a cub himself but as soon as he had stepped onto the grounds of Hogwarts his wolf had been fighting him.

With an inward start Wolf realized what was wrong: Hogwarts.

The castle was immersed in magic and his wolf was made of magic. One was feeding the other while his human side remained the same. But so far he had been winning against the wolf so it wasn’t entirely a dangerous situation.

“You have the rest of the afternoon free,” Lupin said shakily. “Do you need me to show you back to your House Common Room?”

“No,” Wolf sneered, his anger that a lesser wolf dared to meet his eyes in challenge had not lessened at all. “I’ll be fine.”

Lupin gulped and inwardly shook himself before hurriedly rushing out of the room. Wolf sneered at the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor’s back and could inwardly feel the wolf’s lip curl away from his teeth in a silent growl of disapproval.

Lupin had been a werewolf for longer than Wolf had been alive. Even without any training he should have gotten at least a semblance of control. Instead, the human was barely in control normally and the wolf was in control during the full moon. It would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous. Now Wolf understood why the Ministry of Magic had to put up so many sanctions against werewolves. If only the Ministry hadn’t forced the werewolves to disband their packs. Then werewolves would hardly be dangerous; at least not any more dangerous than a mad human with a wand; and the Ministry would not need to take such a hard hand concerning them.

Wolf smirked as he walked down the corridors to the dungeons. As soon as he integrated himself into society here, things would be changing.


III


Wolf walked into his dorm room to find Buddy and Jeremy crowded around Cody’s bed. There was blood on the floor and across one wall. As Wolf watched, Buddy jumped onto the bed and tried to hold down a struggling and bleeding Cody.

“Quick! Get Pomfrey!” Buddy yelled then grunted as Cody’s writhing foot caught him in the stomach.

Jeremy made to rush from the room but Wolf grabbed his wrist to stop him. That smell assaulted his nose again; so familiar yet so twisted.

And suddenly Wolf knew what it was.

“Buddy! Get away from the bed! NOW!” Wolf rushed forward and flung his chubby roommate away.

“Wolf? What’s going on?” Jeremy asked softly. He was still by the door, posed to rush and get help.

“Werewolves can change their form outside of the full moon if they are powerful enough.” Wolf answered gently. “Someone must have pushed Cody to the edge of his control. He’s trying to shift.”

“Werewolves!” Buddy gasped in a shocked voice. “But- but they’re dangerous. Why would they let a werewolf into the school?”

Wolf ignored Buddy, quickly climbed on top of Cody, and caught his flailing, clawed fists in his hands. He was the Alpha wolf and would be damned if one of his wolves lost control while he was around.

Wolf captured both fists into one hand and used his free hand to grip and hold Cody’s chin. He moved slowly so he wouldn’t startle Cody as he gently pushed his cool forehead against Cody’s burning one.

“Calm, wolf.” Wolf whispered in both his human voice and with the magic of his wolf. “You are safe, calm.”

Slowly Cody stopped struggling. His chest was heaving for air and his eyes still flashed wolf yellow but his human side was coming back under control.

Wolf moved off him and sat on the side of the bed. He kept one hand on Cody’s shoulder and continued to let his wolf send calm through their connection.

“How’d you do that?” Jeremy whispered. He had moved from the door to help Buddy up off the floor where Wolf had flung him in his haste.

“Why aren’t you running for Pomfrey or Zabini…or even Lupin?” Wolf answered back tiredly.

“Because you obviously have everything under control.” Buddy answered with a smirk. “Besides, Slytherins bond together against the world. We help you out, you help us out, and we all get along.”

“Ah,” Wolf nodded. “So our secret will stay in this dorm.” He caught both Jeremy and Buddy with a look that could stop his father in his tracks.

“Slytherins are also known for doing everything possible to keep our skins in one piece.” Buddy laughed nervously. “While before it was safer for us to get help, now it’s safer to let you handle this.” He grinned with Jeremy. “Besides, you’re both our friends. It isn’t right to turn in a friend.”

Wolf smiled back. “Good, because that means I don’t have to kill either of you.” He said it in a joking manner but his stoic face belayed just how serious he was.

“Like Buddy said,” Jeremy smirked as he walked over to his trunk to pull out his sleepwear, “anything to save our skins.”

“I know,” Wolf rubbed his eyes with a tired hand. “My father was a Slytherin.” He snapped his mouth shut as soon as he realized what he had said.

“That doesn’t leave the room either.” He growled.

“Of course,” Buddy said gently. “You just make sure that Cody doesn’t get worse. In the morning we’re going to have a talk about what the hell just happened. Right now I’m too tired and you’re too busy. I’m content to wait.”

Wolf nodded and turned to look at Cody. Outwardly he was calm but Wolf could smell the fear on his skin.

“Your secret is safe with us,” Wolf said gently. “I’m a werewolf too and I want other people to know that even less than you do.” Wolf felt Cody’s fear fade. “Go to sleep, Cub. We’ll talk in the morning.”

Wolf waited until he was sure Cody was asleep before heading to his own bed for the night. His wolf could wait until tomorrow night to explore the castle. Right now he was exhausted.


III


The morning dawned bright, cool, and to Professor Zabini hovering in the doorway.

“Wolf,” he said as soon as he saw that Wolf was awake. “I have your class schedule and your books. If you’ll come with me to pick them up in my office?”

“Yeah,” Wolf said sleepily. “Lemme just get some clothes on.”

He quickly pulled on yesterday’s jeans and a black band shirt before following Zabini out of the room. Buddy gave him a nod of understanding as he left. They would talk later.

“You’ve already done a good job hacking off Professor Granger-Weasley, Wolf. If you keep refusing to wear the required uniform she might start taking points or giving detentions.”

“But since I’m in your house,” Wolf said slyly, “technically you can administer my detentions…”

Zabini laughed. “You remind me of… Never mind. Just be warned, she’s the one who scored your tests and was quite angry with them. She said you refused to even attempt the History of Magic exam, almost had you joining the first year class for that until McGonagall stepped in and reminded her that you were a sixth year student and allowed to choose which classes you wanted to take. Then when she read the answers you put down for her test, oh was she angry.” Zabini laughed. “She also said that it seemed like you got some seventh year questions wrong on purpose.” Zabini looked sharply at Wolf to gauge his reaction.

Wolf just shrugged. “How could she tell?”

“She’s considered to be the smartest Witch to ever graduate from Hogwarts.” Zabini sneered. “Besides, after the war she spent a long time working in the Auror office. She knows how to sniff out a lie.”

“I’ll just have to be more careful around her then.” Wolf said as he followed his Head of House into his office.

“Yes, that would be a good idea. I don’t know what you’re hiding, Wolf. And I don’t want to know,” Zabini added quickly at Wolf’s sharp look. “But Granger’s always been good at finding the answers to difficult questions—so be careful.”

Wolf smiled his thanks as he bent down to pick up his stack of books off the floor.


The dormitory was empty when Wolf stopped by to drop off the books he wouldn’t need for the day but he did not feel like joining the rest of the students for breakfast. He had too much to be thinking about right now anyways.

He was losing his cool too quickly. He had only been here two days and there were already people who knew about his other nature. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, he had been fool enough to let it slip that his father had attended Hogwarts.

He snarled at himself and took off to stalk the hallways to get a little energy out.

Granger-Weasley was another threat, a really strong one. He remembered some of the stories his parents used to tell about her, Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley. She had been brilliant as a first year even though she was only a Muggleborn. Now she had extensive training and years of experience. While he would hardly lay low and follow the rules, he would need to make doubly sure that she did not have any reason to go digging into his past.

Then there was Zabini. He was a nice person and had been close friends with his father when they were in school together. He could probably even be trusted if it was necessary, but Wolf hoped that it never would be necessary.

Plus, Lupin could always suddenly wise up and listen to his wolf for once. Lupin’s wolf could tell him why he felt like groveling at Wolf’s feet.

There were so many ways this plan could go wrong before he was even able to start.

Wolf turned another corner and stopped short. His nose figured out what his ears were hearing quickly; saltwater mixed with the distinctive tinge of sadness. Wolf debated whether he should move forward and figure out who was crying or run away and save himself from having to deal with another person’s trauma.

He breathed in again through his nose and swore. His feet began moving forward almost before his brain processed what he smelled.

Tears, yes, but also a familiar scent of a girl. She was human, unlike his mother and his sisters, but she still smelled like them.

He rounded another corner and found a small girl crying in a doorway. Her red hair was distinctive against the grey stone, as were her freckles and tear stained pale skin.

“Molly, right?” Wolf asked gently. “Molly Weasley?”

She jumped and hurriedly dried her eyes on a sleeve even as she gave the slightest of nods.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” Wolf bent down so he could be face level with her.

She hiccupped once before blushing. He could visibly see her take a stranglehold on her emotions and shut them away. She was so strong and so much like his own family that he couldn’t help but smile and offer her a hand up from the cold ground.

“Jamie, James Potter, told me that Potions was here.” She held up a bit of parchment with a hand-drawn map on it. He glanced at it and grimaced. The map was correct…if she had really been trying to get into the locked third floor corridor.

“But I’m lost,” her eyes welled up again and again she fought and succeeded to remain calm. She took his hand and found her feet with more grace than most eleven year olds had.

“I’ll take you to Potions.” He turned them down the hallway and began to lead her to the dungeons. “But only if you tell me what you’re going to do to get back at Potter for sending you in the wrong direction on purpose.”

“Get back at him?” She sounded shocked. “Why would I want to do that?”

Wolf smirked down at her. She was innocent but he could feel her spark. All he had to do was give her a push and she would fan into a bright flame.

“Do you have any siblings at home?” Wolf asked.

“Yeah, two older brothers!” She chirped but she also gave him a confused look about the sudden change in conversation. “I also have so many cousins, including Jamie, and they might as well all be my brothers too.”

“And I’m assuming that as the only girl you get pranks played on you a lot?” Wolf continued gently.

“Yeah,” she snarled. “Uncle Fred and Uncle George keep giving hair color changing potions to Joey so my hair always gets turned blue or pink.”

“You don’t let Joey get away with changing your hair, do you?”

“No, I usually give him a Canary Crème or let off a dungbomb in his room, ‘though not as often as I’d like because Uncle Charlie usually gets stuck with cleaning it up.”

“Exactly!” Wolf smiled. “That’s what I mean, you get Joey back for dying your hair so why can’t you get Potter back for giving you wrong directions?”

“But this isn’t home!” She cried, shocked that he would suggest something like that. “There’re rules here. I could get in trouble!”

“Then we will have to make sure not to get caught,” Wolf said with an evil grin.

She seemed to digest this for a moment before nodding and giving a muted echo of his grin. “But how?”

Wolf turned them down the last corner to the dungeons and was suddenly aware that he was late to class too. Still, it was important to teach his cousin how to survive against such odds. His mother had learned because of the war against Voldemort but had only really come out of her shell with his father’s help. Molly would hopefully never have to grow up dealing with war but now she would have him to teach her how to be bad without getting caught.

“I’m assuming that Jamie is a Gryffindor?” Wolf asked as they stopped outside the closed classroom door.

She nodded. “There isn’t a single Weasley who has not been in Gryffindor.” She said proudly. “And Jamie might as well be a Weasley!”

“Then I’ll bet he doesn’t like Slytherins either.” He didn’t wait for her nod but continued with his explanation. “I know a potion that will turn his skin green and his hair sliver. I can have it done by tonight but it will be up to you to get him to drink it at dinner. Do you think you could do that?” It wouldn’t take him more than five minutes to whip it up.

She looked determined and excited and gave a strong evil smirk of her own.

Wolf opened the classroom door for her and held it open so she could walk in. All eyes turned towards her and Wolf smiled when he saw that her back was straight and she glared back unflinchingly. She was growing a backbone and Wolf had no doubts that she would be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

Zabini caught Wolf’s eyes with a questioning look. “Do you need something Wolf?”

“Sorry to interrupt, Professor, but Weasley was lost so I thought I would help her find her class.” Wolf nodded and began to close the door.

“If you wait one moment I’ll get you a pass for Charms. It wouldn’t do to give Professor Granger-Weasley another reason to want to give you detention.” They shared a smirk.


Wolf entered the Charms classroom over twenty minutes late and was happy to see that that way he sauntered over to her desk, dropped the pass, and lazily walked over to an empty seat next to Cody angered her.

“As I was saying,” the bushy haired Professor gritted out as she fought her glare, “there are numerous ways to change an inanimate object into an animate one but there are much fewer to change an animate object into an inanimate. Since this is review from last year, today we will also be learning how to cast these spells without needing to speak. I know that you will also be going over this in Defense Class but a bit of extra study has never hurt anyone!”

Wolf toned her out as she continued to drone on about silent spells and their difficulties. Once the boring class ended Wolf followed a chattering Cody down to potions. He could feel Cody’s anxiety so he let the boy natter on aimlessly.

Potions required that he pay at least a little attention if he didn’t want his cauldron to explode. He also took some time to take some ingredients for the color-changing potion he was making for Molly.

He finished the assignment for class early and took the last five minutes to make the potion and to write up the directions so Molly could make it herself in the future.

“So you’re in advanced Newt level classes too?” Cody asked as the class ended. Wolf stayed behind to help his friend clean up.

“Yeah, how many Newt’s are you taking?” Wolf answe
red.

“All the main subjects, plus Ancient Runes. I want to be an Auror and they rarely let Slytherins into their school. I need top marks to even be considered.” His excitement deflated quickly as soon as they stepped into the corridor. “But of course, they don’t let animals be Aurors either.”

Wolf growled. “Werewolves are not animals. This Ministry has destroyed the entire culture and has turned society against us. The wolf can be a great thing.”

“You don’t understand,” Cody almost sobbed. “Lupin had to get a letter signed by Harry Potter himself saying that he wasn’t dangerous and, as long as he took Wolfsbane potion, wouldn’t be a risk to anyone. And the school board almost refused to hire him.

“Harry Potter is like a god in our world but not even he is powerful enough to erase all the misgivings about having a werewolf for a teacher. Lupin is a great teacher but every year he gets fired and only gets rehired when the board can’t find anyone else to fill his position. And that’s all because he’s a werewolf! They don’t do that to the normal teachers. Imagine trying to get a more important job like an Auror? Even Harry Potter couldn’t get Lupin into the Auror Academy.

“How can you say that being a werewolf is good with all that fighting against you?”

Wolf just smiled softly. “Close your eyes.” He said and waited until Cody finished glaring and shut his eyes. “Take a deep breath through your nose.”

Cody peaked open one eye and glanced suspiciously at his friend but he took a deep breath. “Yeah, so?” He said finally.

Wolf smirked again and called on his wolf. His wolf reached out and into Cody’s body and found the cub that had not woken yet. He gently brushed against it, waking it just enough that it sent some power into Cody. Cody gasped at the feeling of something huge and powerful stretching underneath his skin and shut his eyes.

“Now breathe again,” Wolf whispered. Cody did not hesitate this time. He took one breath, then another before slowly exhaling. He kept breathing in and out and a small but confused smile lit on his face.

“Can you sort though the smells?” Wolf said gently.

“They’re so many,” he gasped out. “I can smell all the students who just walked through here. I can smell the food in the Great Hall and someone spilled a bit of the potion we just made of the floor just along here.”

“Smell the castle, the magic,” Wolf directed. “Go deeper, past what’s on the surface.”

“You smell like the woods and…like me?”

“The wolf inside always recognizes kin.”

“Then Lupin-”

“He has never bothered to smell with his wolf’s nose.” Wolf sneered. “He’ll never notice.”

“Do you smell all this all the time?”

Wolf laughed. “That and so much more. There are five senses, plus the metaphysical sense, and the wolf enhances them all.”

“That’s amazing! Can you imagine what the Aurors could do against dark wizards if they could smell like this? Help me try another one, what about sight?”

“Wait a bit, Cody. You should really wait until after your first full moon when your wolf has fully melded with your body. Right now you’re borrowing my power.”

“Oh,” he looked disappointed for a moment but then surprise took over on his face. “I never thought I’d be excited for the full moon! Where do you get Wolfsbane potion?”

Wolf growled. “That potion is only for the weak willed wolves or the untrained. I’m neither and I will be training you.”

They entered the Great Hall together and took a seat across from Buddy and Jeremy.

“We have a free period next,” Buddy said softly. “Do you?”

Wolf nodded and Cody echoed him.

“Good, we’ll meet up in our dorm once lunch is over.”

“Hey, whore child!” Theodore Nott’s voice rang down the table. Cody flinched and sucked in a deep, angry breath even as he ignored the other Slytherin.

“Greengrass! I need you to do some of my homework for me.” Goyle and Nott laughed. Wolf swore. He could feel Cody’s ire rising and it was waking his wolf. Werewolves were especially susceptible to emotions, particularly anger, and had to learn to control them in order to be able to control the wolf. Cody was close to losing himself.

“I’m not going to do your homework for you, bastard,” Cody snarled. Wolf quickly called on his wolf and brushed his shoulder against Cody’s. He sent a calming wave to his friend and watched in relief as Cody settled down and his wolf went back to sleep.

“Technically, you’re the bastard,” Violet Nott giggled with a group of equally vapid girls.

Cody was calm now but still sent a look of pure venom towards both Notts. “At least my parents weren’t Death Eaters.”

A loud gasp rang down the Slytherin table and Cody was barely fast enough to put up a shielding charm against the painful curses that were sent his way.

“What is going on here!” Wolf and Cody flinched and Nott hurriedly hid his wand under the table. “It’s the second day of school and you’re already dueling, Mr. Greengrass, Mr. Nott? I will be speaking to your head of house about this! And ten points each from Slytherin!”

Cody sneered down at the table while Granger-Weasley surveyed the Slytherin table with an unconscious curl of her lip.

“And another ten points from Slytherin for not wearing the uniform, Mr. Wolf.” She added after letting her previous words sink in.

“Screw you,” Wolf grumbled under his breath.

“Excuse me?”

Wolf looked up and glared right at her. His piercing gray eyes didn’t blink and he was gratified when she averted her eyes to look at his ear instead.

“My name is Wolf, not Mr. Wolf or any other appellations of that.” He still hadn’t blinked and his glare intensified. It was certainly interesting to have a dominance fight with a human. Usually he was fighting other wolves that knew what the little signs of body language he was sending out meant. Even his own mother would be extra cautious if she had to approach him when his wolf was glaring as strongly as his was.

“And another ten points for your impertinence, Wolf.” She said in a strong voice even as she backed away. Apparently humans had enough animal left in them to let her understand that getting in a fight with him would be deadly.

Wolf focused his eyes back at his plate once she had turned away in defeat and took a calming breath. His ears followed her receding footsteps even as he picked up his fork and speared his meat.

“Who is that boy?” He heard her ask.

To his horror he heard McGonagall answer. “I’ve been looking into it since I received his letter asking to come to this school. So far I haven’t been able to find anything but if you give me a few more weeks…”

“I’ll begin my own search as well,” Granger-Weasley added as he heard her chair scrape as she pulled it in.

“Hey, hey!”

Wolf slowly turned his head towards Cody. “Yeah?”

“Ah, you’re listening now? Lunch is pretty much over so we’re heading up now. You coming?”

“Yeah…” Wolf sent one last, worried look up at the staff table. He would need to mention a possible search from the school to his parents so they could hide themselves just in case.


III


Hey,


I got here all right so stop worrying about the unreliability of Muggle transportation! There’s another of our kind, a new one, in my dorm; which means our sources were correct. We’ve become friendly. Blaise Zabini is my Potions Professor and he’s great, especially when compared to Granger-Weasley. She’s my Charms Professor and we’re not getting along. She’s poking around where she shouldn’t be poking so be careful back home. Also, you’re an Aunt. There are too many boys to count but only one little girl.

Say hi to the fuzzy-butts for me and please write back! I want to know how everything’s going with the family.


Love,


Tris


III


Past:


Draco Malfoy fled for his life. Snape was somewhere, either just behind him or right around the next corner in front of him, Draco wasn’t sure exactly where. All he knew was that Dumbledore had just fallen from the tower and Harry Potter was screaming after him.

He rounded another corner and skidded to a stop so he wouldn’t tumble head first down the staircase. A spell hit the wall near his head so Draco threw caution into the winds and practically dived down all six flights. His feet pounded across the entrance hall and out the main doors onto the grounds.

Somehow he had made it out of the castle, now all he had to do was get out of school grounds.

“Keep moving!” Snape hissed and shoved him in the back. “Head for the forest, Apparate to your manor.”

Draco nodded back breathlessly and took off in a frenzied sprint. He felt more than saw Snape stall behind him and engage someone, probably Potter, with taunts and a few well placed curses. It bought Draco the time he needed to enter the forest.

He passed through the outer tree line and moved deeper until he could feel the anti-apparition wards thinning. He paused to catch his breath and wait for Snape to catch up.

A stick snapped behind him and Draco turned to rush over to Snape. Instead a pair of bright yellow eyes peered up at him through the underbrush. It was only later that Draco could pierce together what happened.

Snape found him screaming in pain and killed the wolf.

His shoulder was mangled and he couldn’t move his fingers. Something was broken and he couldn’t breathe.

Snape bent down and grabbed his arm. Draco’s screaming increased but he couldn’t figure out why. Nothing hurt…he smiled brightly up at Snape and blinked…what was that roaring noise in his ears?...his chest hurt but he couldn’t remember how to breathe…

Dimly Draco heard Snape swear then squeezing blackness as he was side-along Apparated.

“Safe,” Draco almost made his lips move, almost had the thought to move his lips. “I want to be somewhere safe.”

Snape’s grip on his arm slipped alarmingly as his blood became a lubricant. Draco went flying away from Snape just milliseconds before Snape snapped back into reality. Draco drifted along, not caring nor noticing that he was slowly suffocating and bleeding to death.

“Safe,” he whispered and his lips might have moved that time. With a deafening POP Draco jumped out of Apparition space and into the bright lights of someone’s home.

“Holy Shit!”

He heard someone scream but was too far-gone to care. He slipped into the welcome oblivion with a peaceful smile.



He was stiff and achy when he woke and his surroundings gave him little comfort. He was in what was clearly a Muggle’s house with electricity and other useless gadgets those helpless creatures used because they weren’t gifted with magic.

The door creaked open and a red haired man shuffled in with a tray and a bowl.

“I figured you’d be up today, what with the full moon being tonight and all.” The man smiled and put the tray down on a side table.

Draco would have flinched back and said something caustic to the man when he reached forward and touched him, but two things distracted him. The first was the man’s casual mention of the full moon as if it would have some significance for Draco. The second was the fact that not only was he alive but his arm was functioning. The man laughed as Draco carefully wiggled fingers that he knew had not been working that last, fateful night at Hogwarts.

“I’m Ben and I’m sure that you’ve got just as many questions as I do. First, though, I want you to eat something.” He finished helping Draco to sit up and put the tray in his lap.

The bowl was filled with broth, a small sliver of an orange vegetable, and something that might have been bits of chicken in another life. It was worse than what his house elves ate! Draco curled his lip and went to knock the tray to the floor.

A loud growl froze him in place as something flinched inside of him.

“Eat it,” Ben said in a voice that was more growl than words but it sent Draco scrambling for a spoon. The soup tasted much better than it looked so Draco did not need another prompt from the scary man to eat more.

“Now while you’re eating,” Ben said softly in a much more controlled voice, “I will start explaining things to you.”

Draco hastily nodded and popped another spoonful into his mouth.

“I don’t know or care where you’re from. All I know is that you were attacked by a werewolf and somehow appeared on my kitchen floor. I had you stitched up and you’ve been healing here ever since.”

He waited until Draco took another spoonful before continuing.

“I’m a werewolf, the Alpha of this pack. That means that my word is law and, as you just found out, if I want you to do something, you do it.”

Draco grimaced. That didn’t sound like something he would enjoy. He already hated that his father and Voldemort gave him orders and expected them to be followed but now this man could give him the orders and force him to obey! No, he would be doing something to end that.

“Now I’m not stupid enough to abuse my power as Alpha wolf,” Ben continued aimlessly, “my second and third would kill me for it.”

“Look,” Draco said as he spoke for the first time. “I won’t have anyone be ordering me about any more.”

“Well, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem,” Ben said with a smile. “Once you’ve learned all there is to being a werewolf you’ll also learn just how much strength you have. If you’re strong enough you should be able to fight and overcome my powers. I’ve felt your strength and you could be an Alpha stronger than me.”

Draco sneered. “Werewolves are the stigma of society. I’d rather be dead than change into a werewolf. And I don’t give a damn about your power structure or whatever.”

Ben laughed. “We’ll see what you have to say tomorrow night once you’ve run on four paws for the first time.”

Draco could feel panic creeping up his spine and hurriedly looked for something else to concentrate on. He didn’t want to think about being attacked by a werewolf and definitely didn’t want to think about turning furry once a month.

“Your cooking is terrible,” he said finally. Ben laughed and took the dodge in stride. Draco felt that he probably wasn’t the first person Ben had dealt with who was unhappy about being bitten.

“You can cook then,” Ben said with a smile.

Draco glared. “I’ve never cooked anything in my life, I don’t plan on starting now.”

“You’re a spoiled little rich boy!” Ben laughed. “I’ll enjoy teaching you how to be human.” Draco glowered and Ben laughed harder. “And wolf,” he added once he had a little control over his laughter.

Draco growled. It was a strange sound and not one that he had ever made before when he was angry. Draco blinked slowly as he listened to the sounds and notes that melded together to form the growl and almost missed Ben’s knowing grin. Draco scowled at turned to look at the wall.

There was a knock on the door and it opened to let in a tiny Asian woman. “Ben-san,” she said softly. “The pack is here.”

“Thank you Kyoko,” Ben said with a smile. “I’ll be right there with our newest cub.” She nodded and backed out of the room with a smile.

“Who’s that?” Draco asked as he pushed the bed covers off his body.

Ben went over to the closet and pulled out a pair of loose sweatpants and a sleeveless T-shirt. He tossed them to Draco who held them at arms length with a sneer of disgust on his face.

“That was my second in command. Don’t be fooled by her tiny appearance. She can pick up a car and throw it quite a good distance. And put on the clothes. You’ll want something loose and rip-able for when you shift.”

“If I knew what a car was that might be more impressive,” Draco shrugged and stepped into the pants with a grimace.

Ben looked at him with a confused look on his face. “Where are you from?” He said finally. “Cars are everywhere! I’ve never met anyone who didn’t know what a car was.”

“I’m a Wizard.” Draco pulled the shirt over his head. “You know, wave a wand and do magic.”

Ben looked suitably impressed. “I know people around here who can do magic but none who use wands. Oh yeah! Is this yours?” He pulled out a stick that Draco immediately recognized as his wand. He grabbed it and quickly checked it over for scratches and nicks. He even shot green sparks out of the end to make sure that nothing was damaged inside. He let out a relieved sigh once he was sure that it was okay.

“I guess that proves it,” Ben said with a smile. “You can do magic. I think you should leave the wand here, though,” he added. “It might get lost in the woods if you take it outside.”

Draco nodded and carefully set his wand down on the bedside table before following Ben downstairs.



III



Draco woke slowly as another gust of cold wind scraped along the bare skin on his back. He sat up and closed his arms around his knees to conserve some body heat.

“What happened?” His voice croaked and he cleared his throat a couple times.

He remembered walking down the stairs behind Ben and introducing himself to the pack. Then he remembered being scared as he followed the pack out into the backyard and into the extensive acres of wooded lands Ben owned. Then all he could remember was pain. He could recall the pop of bones breaking and he remembered his skin splitting and then, nothing. His mind was completely blank after that.

“Ah, you’re awake!” Draco looked up and blinked as Ben detangled himself from a giant blob of naked bodies curled around each other. ‘Okay,’ Draco thought, confused. ‘The rest of the pack is over there. Why am I alone?’

Ben dropped to the ground next to Draco and threw an arm over his shoulders. He was nude too but Draco didn’t care. He curled into his Alpha’s warmth and let Ben hold him as Draco let the night before wash away from him.

“What happened?” He asked again and felt Ben laugh next to him.

“Well, you shifted.” Ben started with a smile. “At first you were like any other new cub. You had to find your paws and you were sniffing everything.” He laughed. “It was cute! Your fur is completely white, by the way.”

“What’s a cub and why don’t I remember any of this?” Draco interrupted.

“A cub is a werewolf who hasn’t got control over their wolf yet. It means that when you shift, the wolf is in control and when you’re in human form the wolf will try to make you shift so it can take control. You don’t remember anything because the wolf was in control. Your human side might as well have been asleep. Once you get control over your wolf you’ll start remembering things.”

Draco nodded. “So after I was a cute cub, what happened?”

Ben snickered. “Kyoko tried to give you your first lesson on what it meant to be a werewolf. You ignored her and went chasing after a rabbit instead. She ordered you to stop, the same way I ordered you to eat yesterday, and you just growled at her.” Ben shook his head and smiled gently. “That was your wolf telling Kyoko that you were more powerful than she was and, well, she didn’t take that well.”

“That sounds properly ominous,” Draco said with a lift of his eyebrow.

“You could say that,” another voice called from the mass of bodies. Michael, the third in command, lifted himself out of the pile and walked over to sit on Draco’s other side.

“Kyoko attacked,” Ben continued. “You’re just a puppy so I never would have expected her to do something so drastic. I was unprepared to stop her.”

Ben looked embarrassed for a second but Michael picked up the tale. “You wiped the floor with her nose,” he chuckled. “You, a puppy, took out the second most powerful werewolf in this country. She wouldn’t let any of the other wolves play with you after that which is why you were sleeping alone.”

“I stand by what I said earlier,” Ben said with a smile. “Once you gain control of your wolf you will be more powerful than me and I’ll relinquish the pack to you.”


III


A year passed quickly and Draco was very close to controlling his wolf. In truth he was stalling. He didn’t really want to have control over other people’s lives like an Alpha did, it smacked too much of something Voldemort would do as he was constantly reminded. That particular tattoo transferred over to his wolf form. In the winter his fur was long enough to cover the ugly mark but he could feel the magic emanating off of it now that he was more fully in tune with his wolf.

Apparently Kyoko had tried to attack him three more times in the successive three full moons and while he didn’t remember it happening, Michael had filled him in on all of her defeats once they had changed back. She left soon after to find a new pack that she could be Alpha of. Draco was grateful that she left because it meant that he could run with the pack and he could fall asleep in the big pile at the end of the night.

Being a werewolf wasn’t as terrible as Draco originally thought and it didn’t seem that Voldemort or Dumbledore’s friends would be able to find him here.

He was happy to stay as he was until the day that a small, bleeding girl with vivid red hair popped into existence in Ben’s kitchen.

“What is this?” Ben swore even as he rushed to the phone to call the werewolf who was also a doctor to hurry over to his house. “Do bleeding cubs keep having to suddenly appear in my kitchen? What am I, a metaphysical puppy magnet?”

But Ben gently lifted the girl into his arms and laid her out on the table so the doctor could work.

Draco gasped as a wand fell out of her limp fingers and hit the ground. His thinking ground to a halt as he refocused his gaze on her red hair.

A Weasley, his mind froze.

“She can’t take me back,” Draco whispered into the silence that was only punctured by her uneven breathing. “I’ll kill her before I let her take me back.”

“Lets find out what happened to her before you start planning to kill her.” Ben said with a stern look that made Draco’s wolf bristle. He quickly suppressed his wolf and nodded to Ben. “Why don’t you go buy ingredients for soup,” Ben said gently. “She’s going to need it when she wakes up and since you hate the canned stuff I make you get to make it from scratch.”

Draco grumbled but went to grab his wallet and car keys. “I will be having a long talk with her when she wakes up,” Draco growled as he walked out the door.