Chapter Text
FEEDBACK: needed, like water and sun. You can send it either to my email address or post it at the group (if allowed).
DISCLAIMER: Belongs to JKR. No profit made. No infringement intended etc.
CATEGORY: First Time/ Romance / WAFF-Fluff
NOTES: This fic is part of the 'Mortal Moon' Harry/Remus Challenge: #77 When a werewolf first touches its future mate, it gets an unusual feeling and somehow knows that person will be its mate. Imagine Remus' surprise when James first hands him a baby Harry... (Cara)
BETA: Eireverde
ARCHIVING: The Mortal Moon Fest, and any other sites or archives this will be posted at after the wave ends.
It all started with a letter...
Professor Lupin:
I write to you as I was told to do in the train station three days ago. I'm fine. The Dursleys give me food and ignore me as much as they can. I might just make it.
Your friends' son,
Harry Potter
It was followed by an answer....
Dear Harry,
I'm glad you're fine. You know, you don't have to call me Professor anymore, I'm not your teacher; you can call me Remus. Also, you are more to me than just my friends' son, I hope you know that.
Remus Lupin
3 days later...
Remus,
I'm still fine. I know I'm more than that. I'm also the godson of your best friend, your ex-student, and the "hero" of the wizarding world.
All of the above (though not all by choice),
Harry Potter
2 hours later...
Dear Harry,
What has gotten into you? You are much more than all those things. What's wrong? Please let me know.
Remus
Later...
Nothing's wrong, I'm fine. I'm not allowed to be anything different from fine.
Harry
Harry,
You don't have to be 'allowed'. It doesn't matter what anyone says, you have to be yourself, stay true to your personality and if others don't like it, then too bad. If you don't want to fight You Know Who, then you won't. We'll find a way out, I promise.
Remus Lupin
Remus,
I'm confused. I appreciate your support and your words have lifted my mood but I don't understand something, and so I want you to answer one question: what am I to you?
Harry
Remus Lupin sat in his bedroom at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, holding the latest letter Harry had sent him. Millions of thoughts were running through his mind and not one had a satisfying solution. He could tell Harry the truth and risk losing him now or make up a lie and lose him completely in the future when he finally found it out. Because he would find out; Harry had this uncanny ability to get the truth out of any situation without even trying.
What is he to me? He is the sun, the moon, the stars, my entire world. The reason I wake up in the morning and the reason I have stayed alive after the deaths of so many of my friends. He is my mate. But he is too young and I cannot let him know.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
On a small house in Little Whinging, Number 4 Privet Drive, to be exact, Harry Potter lay awake late at night. He was worried. Remus had always answered his letters right away but it had been an entire day already and Remus hadn't answered the latest he had sent. Maybe he shouldn't have asked that question, but he truly wanted to know the answer. It was a mystery to Harry why Remus cared so much about him; Remus had written he was more than all that but what could Harry possibly be?
He kept looking out the window and finally saw an unknown owl approaching his window. It looked old, but not as ancient as Errol. He opened the window and the owl swept in. Up close it looked very official and full of itself, sort of like the owl version of Percy Weasley. He unhooked a big envelope from the owl's claw and gave it some of Hedwidg's treats, and water. He then turned his attention to the envelope, taking out a loose page and another thick envelope from the inside.
He read the loose parchment first.
Dear Mr. Potter,
On August 7 of 1981, Gringotts received a very special request from one of the oldest families we've had the pleasure of serving. That would be the Potters, James and Lily Potter to be precise. They came to me as Bank Manager with a letter to be delivered to you, Harry Potter, in case of their demise before your sixteenth birthday. Seeing as the aforementioned clause has occurred, and it is now exactly one month before you turn sixteen, I have personally tied to this owl the letter in question and have charmed it so that only you can open and read it.
It has been a pleasure to serve your family once again and Gringotts hopes you will continue to handle your business with us.
Greypos Grondel Bank Manager, Gringotts
A letter from my parents? What the hell is going on here? This could be a trick, he could be in huge trouble if he tried to open this letter and something awful happened to him. But then again he would most likely be dead by that point and with his mom and dad and Sirius and wouldn't care any more if he had let Dumbledore and the wizarding world down by reading the letter. And what if it wasn't a trap and it really was a letter from his parents? He had to know and he had to know now.
He opened the second envelope and was surrounded by a smell of soft flowers and mint. His mom, he remembered, or at least his nose did. A tear ran unnoticed down his cheek. Now he really did have to read this letter.
August 6, 1981
My dearest baby boy,
If you are reading this, we are dead. I don't know how long it's been, maybe a year or maybe even fifteen. As we write this, we are in hiding. There has been a prophecy made, we are told, and there is a high chance you are at risk. But that is not why I write, and your father hovers above my shoulder impatiently waiting for me to move on. I write because this matter concerns someone else as well. If you have survived, then I hope some of the other Marauders have survived, too. But let me start from the beginning. One week ago was your first birthday. You had a beautiful party and Molly and Cissy brought their sons, along with Molly's twins. Poor Neville also came, his grandmother brought him. It was great, the house was full of children and Sirius was driving me crazy; he was taking pictures and running around. He made you so happy. I'm losing track again. A friend came by, a friend who hadn't seen you since you were two days old. He had been working non stop for an organization against Voldemort, trying to keep the werewolves from joining him. His name is Remus Lupin, I know you must know him. He must still be alive, if not, then this letter has no purpose. But then again, three things had to happen for you to receive this letter: you must be alive, your father and I must be dead, and Remus Lupin has to be alive. I must be making you nervous, please don't be and above all remember you have a choice, you always have a choice.
Anyway, let's continue. We knew Remus was avoiding us and for a while we thought he might be a spy. Today all of our suspicions were erased; after your birthday party he stayed in town. We went into hiding right after your birthday and today we invited the Marauders to dinner, and today we learned a secret. Remus could never hide anything from Sirius and James... Peter couldn't come, but as our secret keeper gave the invitations to the other two. We have decided to keep this to ourselves for the time being. I don't know how to say this, but I know I must start at the beginning. I hope you already know that Remus is a werewolf, an Alpha werewolf. "Those who have been cursed or bitten by another creature are all involuntary Werewolves. They have little or no control over their changes from Man to Wolf and Wolf to Man, and are subject to phases of the Moon." Sorry, had to take that from a book. I really hope you know all this by now, but I have to tell you in case you don't. Werewolves mate for life, staying devoted to their chosen mate until both die. Those who lose their mates will not find a new one, and will mourn their lost mate, grief-stricken. Most werewolves die within a month of their mate. They choose their mate by smell, by this I mean that their mate is someone that smells right to them.
Today we found out who Remus's mate is. We were eating when James and Sirius caught Remus in a lie. They pushed and pushed until he told them the reason why he had avoided us for the last year. He had found his mate, he said, and when we congratulated him he said we wouldn't be very happy about it when we found out who. He wouldn't tell us who it was, but after an hour of pushing he broke at last. Harry, you are his mate.
%%%%%%
At this point Harry let the letter fall to the bed he was sitting on. He was Remus's mate? What the hell? He picked it up again and kept reading.
%%%%%%%%%
I know this must be news to you because he told us he would never tell you. To us you are just a baby and to him, too. How can you possibly be his mate? After I spent half of the night reading, I found out it is possible. You just smell right to him. He only wants to be with you, and if he hasn't told you then he will die one month after your sixteenth birthday. This is because while you were still a child, it wasn't much of an issue whether Remus claimed you but now that you are becoming a man by werewolf standards, it is. In the wizarding world, 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. And thus, in the wizarding world, he has no right to claim you. It is your choice and it is all in your hands.
You must know, my son, that Remus Lupin is a good man and he will love you no matter what. He doesn't have many flaws but he likes to be liked and that's where he slips up. He's been disliked so often that he's always pleased to have friends, so he cuts them an awful lot of slack. He will also try to keep his loved ones from hurting and he will avoid getting hurt by them. He means the world to us, my son, and he will be a good companion to you. Give him a chance, but don't feel obliged to give your life for him. Because if you mate with him, you will become his life and he will become yours.
We're sorry we're not there to help you and support you but know that we love you and that we'll always live in your heart.
With our heart and soul,
Your mom and dad,
Lily and James Potter
Harry was frustrated. He didn't know if he should be mad that Remus hadn't told him before or glad that his parents did, or now that he knew, glad to be someone's mate or terrified. He took a deep breath and organized his thoughts. If this was true then he had a month exactly before Remus died. He couldn't let Remus die. But then again he would most likely die when Voldemort finally got Harry, but that wouldn't be Harry's fault. His mother had said he had a choice, but he couldn't let Remus die. He had to talk to Remus; now he knew why the werewolf hadn't answered his last letter. Harry was his mate and Remus didn't want him to know.
He made up his mind. He had to talk to Remus, so he packed up his belongings, snuck downstairs, picked the lock on the cupboard where his trunk was stashed and, carrying it, headed for the front door. He didn't even bother to say goodbye to his relatives. He stood on the front porch and looked around. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary but he knew his watchers where there, like prison guards, just there.
"I know there's someone here," he said loud and clear but only after checking that none of the neighbours were paying attention. No one answered. "Very well, I'll be hailing the Knight Bus then." He raised his wand as if to call, when Tonks appeared seemingly from nowhere. "No, Harry, wait!"
"Tonks, take me to Remus Lupin." Maybe it was the desperate quality of his voice or the resolve on his face, but Tonks didn't contradict Harry at all.
"Ok, hold on."
end part 1
A/N: See my bio to see where I got the info on wherewolves