Fate Untold (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter 15: Henrik Stone

The Hogwarts Express arrived at Platform 9¾ on a late December afternoon, just a couple of hours before sundown. As soon as the train doors opened, a blizzard of students came flocking out. Among the lively crowd was Ashley who, surrounded by her adequately large circle of friends, immediately headed towards the luggage car to retrieve her things. Once she had all her personal belongings accounted for, she glanced around before subtly shrinking them to fit into her pocket, leaving only Hedwig's cage (and Hedwig) for her to carry. She embraced each of her friends before wandering off to search for Sirius and Remus. Lucky for her, it didn't take too long.

"Bambi!"

Ashley whirled around, grinning automatically when her gaze caught sight of both of her soul-bonded. She hurried forward and jumped straight their open arms, giggling as they cuddled her close. Remus just held her quietly, opposite to Sirius who kept rambling about how much they missed her. Feeling left out, Moko slithered out from beneath her scarf and nudged both men. The older Marauders chuckled and greeted the serpent before releasing Ashley and stepping back a bit.

"Ready to go home?"

Ashley nodded enthusiastically, adjusting her scarf as her familiar crawled back under it. She let Remus take the owl cage and latched on to Sirius' extended arm. The three of them apparated home where Kreacher welcomed the Potter Heiress with a plate of freshly baked cookies. She enjoyed the treats, eventually sharing them with Sirius and Remus to appease their pouting. After tasking Kreacher with bringing her things to her room, Ashley then spent the rest of the day catching up with her soul-bonded.

The next morning was tame compared to all the fun they had during the evening. Sirius had made them play all sorts of Muggle games and had even convinced them to roll around in the snow with him. Ashley had been all for it, not having had a chance to properly appreciate the winter season yet. Remus, on the other hand, had been understandably hesitant at first. The last full moon had left him drained but seeing his mate and cub so happy together... He'd been willing to do anything to keep his pack like that, so he gave in. But now, he and Ashley were relaxing in the library, sitting across one another on different couches. Remus was reading some ancient tome he found somewhere near the back of the room while Ashley was studying Parselmagic.

"Remy?" Ashley piped up, drawing out the last syllable.

"Yes, cub?" Remus answered, turning a page.

"I'm craving ice-cream." Ashley announced, placing her book down.

"Well, then it's a good thing I bought a whole tub yesterday. Let's hope your godfather didn't find it first." Remus sighed in mock exasperation.

He bookmarked the page he was reading before placing the tome down on the seat beside him and standing up. He paused in his steps when Ashley reached for him with both arms, those bright, heart-melting eyes of hers staring expectantly at him. Shaking his head fondly, he crouched down to allow her to climb on his back. Once her arms were secured around his neck, he gripped her thighs for further support and headed out of the library. The closer they got to their destination, the louder Remus heard the commotion in the dining room.

"Sirius, you better not have-"

Remus froze as he entered the room, shocked stock still by the many guests he had not been expecting. Sirius hadn't been expecting them either, judging by the sour look on his face, but at least he was acting civil. That was something Remus was having difficulties with at the moment. His eyes had most likely turned amber already because he could feel just how close Moony was to the surface.

Now, Moony could be described as a lot of things. Territorial and protective were two of those things, and those two traits of his were currently being triggered. Not by the Weasleys (missing only Ginny, Percy, and the twins), Mitchelle, Tonks, Kingsley, or McGonagall... Not even by Snape. No, the reasons Moony wanted to go on a rampage were the two lying, heartless bastards standing near the corner of the room. Dumbledore, who had raised Ashley like a pig for slaughter, and Moody, who Kreacher revealed as the man who murdered Sirius' brother without a second thought. Moony wanted to be nowhere near them. They were threats to his home and his pack. He wanted to rip them apart, piece by piece, until there was nothing left but blood. He wanted to avenge his mate and cub who had suffered because of them. He wanted-