Chapter Six

Tuesday 1 September 1998

Harry

By the time the first of September roles around, I feel confident in my knowledge and abilities. Of course, I'll keep practicing at Hogwarts, but I feel ready enough not to make a fool out of myself. Siri and Re, as I have taken to calling them, are at the station with me.

"Thank you so much for helping me," I say.

"Of course, pup. We were happy to."

Family, pack, don't leave.

I have to, Eli. Our mate might be there, remember?

Mate? Go, go, go!

I put you on figurative mute, and take a breath. I've been wanting to ask a certain question for a while, but I never found the right moment. But I guess I'm kind of running out of time.

"Do you think I could come back for Christmas break? I've always spent it at Hogwarts, but I would like to spend it with you. I don't want to impose, though."

"We would love to have you, pup." The joy that fills me is one of the many ways I know that this, the three of us, are family. Are pack.

"We were actually going to invite you anyway." I grin at them, pulling them into a three-way hug.

"I'll see you at Christmas, then."

"See you at Christmas. We'll miss you, pup," Re says.

"I'll miss you too."

I wave goodbye, heading to the train.  I find a compartment where Hermione and Neville already sit. Apparently I'm not the only one who went through an inheritance; as soon as I get close to the compartment I can scent it. He's some kind of elf, I think, probably a nature one, knowing Neville. And submissive, interesting.

He's guarded as I walk in, but relaxes when he sees it's me. Nature elves and werewolves who decide to live outside wizarding society tend to inhabit similar places, meaning although they can get along, there can be friction between the two species. Of course, the opposite can occur, and werewolves and nature elves can become close and work in harmony. It's similar with all forest dwellers.

I make eye contact with him before anything else, just in case, but as expected, he's not my mate. I sigh, and you whine quietly in my head.

"Hey guys," I say. I remain standing, looking to Neville as a form of respect that I wouldn't normally offer, but I would like us to remain friends. If we do, I could end up becoming much closer to him. He nods, and I smile, sitting next to him.

He's your friend? We should watch out for him.

Was already planning on it.

"Harry! Tell me everything that happened!" Hermione exclaims. I laugh, rolling my eyes.

Who's she? You seem guarded, probably assessing her threat level.

Her name's Hermione. She's one of my best friends, and probably the smartest person you'll ever meet. She'll have already done her research about everything, you don't have to worry about her doing anything out of line.

"I assume you've already been grilled?" I say to Neville, keeping my voice calm and low. He relaxes a bit more. I assume Hermione would have picked up on his inheritance, as it's reasonably evident; especially in his demeaner. Nature elves are known to be calm and confident, even though he's a sub, unlike Neville's previous self. Like typical elf inheritances, his hair is also much longer and his ears are pointed. His bone structure is much more defined as well. I'm almost certain someone like Hermione would have noticed. He laughs as well.

"Would you expect anything else from Hermione?" She huffs.

"Just answer my question!"

"Well, like I said in my letter, I went to live with Re and Siri for the rest of the summer and they trained me. I'm pretty confident now, but I have a couple more things to learn. Maybe you could help me research in the library?" Hermione smiles wider than I've ever seen.

"I've never thought you would be the one asking me to study! Of course! I became really interested in this creature thing after your letter. What's it like being a werewolf?"

"It's... I don't know. Hard to explain. I feel the same, but different at the same time."

"Because that's helpful," she says sarcastically. I role my eyes.

"I mean, I feel essentially like myself, like I know I haven't changed, but I feel bolder, more assertive. Like I've grown up really rapidly. And then there's Eli." You perk up at your name, alert.

"He's your wolf side, right? I think you wrote about him in your first letter. Can we meet him?"

Yes, good idea, want to meet your friends.

"I guess? I can't give him control without shifting, so maybe the train isn't the best place to do that. I'll probably let him out to go for a run around the Forbidden Forest tonight, so maybe then?"

A forest? There's a forest at your school?

Yeah, it's huge. There are actually rumoured to be other werewolves in there.

A pack! Maybe we could join!

What about Re and Siri, and my father's old pack? Besides, I don't want to live in the Hogwarts grounds.

Right, sorry, I got excited.

At that point, Ron walks in with Ginny.

"Hey mate," Ron says, and a growl finds its way out of my mouth without my consent, more vicious than any I had practiced with Re. Ron takes a step back. You are furious.

What right does he have to throw that word around like it means nothing? How dare he even insinuate that his puny wizard brain could comprehend what we feel for our mate?

Calm down, Eli. He doesn't know.

"Sorry. Just... don't call me that."

"Right, got it. So this werewolf thing is pretty cool, huh?"

"I guess you could call it that." Ron sits next to Hermione, wrapping an arm around her. That will take some time to get used to. I notice them look at Neville strangely, as if trying to figure out what's different. He laughs.

"I went through my own inheritance. I'm a nature elf."

"Right, right."

I catch Ginny's eye. Part of me feels guilty, having lead her on for the majority of the past couple of years, and now not being able. I open my mouth to apologise, but she shakes her head.

"We'll talk later?" she says.

"Of course."

You haven't mentioned her once. What do you mean lead her on?

Nothing, don't fret. We kissed, like once. It wasn't a big deal. We never went further and we never technically dated.

You kissed her? But she's not our mate!

I'm aware of that, but I didn't know at the time. If I had, I would never have done it, you know that. But there's nothing I can do to change the past.

"So do you think anyone else went through an inheritance?" Hermione asks.

"Definitely. There are at least four others already on the train."

"Really? How can you tell?"

"People with inheritances scent differently. Plus you can tell whether a creature is dom or sub by their scent. Well you guys can't. Other creatures can."

"Cool! Can you tell who they are?"

"No, I would have had to memorise everyone's scents before the holidays. Because I definitely had time for that," I add sarcastically. "I can guess though, depending on people's blood lines. It's typically purebloods who get them; both parents have to have an inheritance for it to be a hundred percent sure."

"But wasn't your mum a muggleborn?"

They ask a lot of questions.

They're just interested. They're good friends.

"Apparently she was a bitten wolf, like Re, and the bite changes your DNA or something, so bitten wolves can have inherited wolf kids. It's confusing gene stuff."

"So most Slytherins are probably going to have inheritances then."

"Ugh, what if Malfoy gets one? He'll be even more cocky," Ron moans.

Who's Malfoy?

A boy in our year. We've never got on, and like Ron said, he's kind of cocky.

"Unless he's a sub."

"Ha! Draco Malfoy, king of over-confident pricks, a submissive! Imagine!" Ron says, laughing, and I feel you getting angry again. I learnt that it's in most dominant creatures' instinct to protect any and all subs, even those who aren't their mates. We would get this defensive at such a small comment, about Malfoy no less.

"There's nothing wrong with being a sub, Ron," I say, a bit harsher than I intended.

"Right, yeah, but if Malfoy- you know, the pretentious git- was one, wouldn't that be hilarious?" I growl lowly.

"Why?"

"Well, it's Malfoy, isn't it! Imagine him acting all pleasing and, you know, submissive! You could, like, make him do stuff, right? We could make him completely humiliate himself! Merlin knows he deserves it, being a slimy Death Eater and all."

How dare he?

"How dare you?" I echo, the words coming out growling, and I stand, too tense to remain seated. "Are you insinuating that I would abuse my power as a dominant? That I would take advantage of a submissive? How dare you! I would never do such a thing!" I can't even think of what to say to convey to him how insulting that was. Instead, I bare my teeth at him, and growl even louder than I did when he called me 'mate'. But Neville whimpers, and I stop myself, realising I probably just scared every sub on the train. "Sorry Nev. Whatever. I need a walk."

I leave the compartment, but pace around just outside.

"What did I say?" Ron asks, and you growl in my head.

Idiot.

"You basically just mortally insulted him," Hermione replies. Thank Merlin for Hermione. "Doms hold the safety and happiness of any sub above all else, and you just threatened one's. And suggested, like he said, he would abuse his status and power as a dom."

"I thought it was a soulmate situation? Besides, I was talking about Malfoy."

"Wolves do have mates, but they are protective over any and all unmated subs, as are most creatures. You really need to be more careful, Ron," Hermione says scoldingly.

"Right. Should I go apologise?"

"He probably needs some space. Leave it for a bit, let him cool down."

"Right. Merlin, he wasn't like this before he went to Lupin's."

I'm half tempted to shift, leap off the train and let you run the rest of the way to Hogwarts, but I doubt that would do anything except make me tired, so I search for an empty compartment. I find one eventually, near the other end of the train, and end up falling asleep.

I dream of my mate. I can't tell who they are, or anything about them, but I know they're mine. I open my arms for them, unable to say anything, and they almost collapse into them. I lower us both to the ground, stroking their hair. It's a weird sensation; I can feel that I'm touching it, but I can't tell anything about it; its texture, length, colour. I can't tell anything about this person, apart from the fact that they're mine, and I think I already love them.

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