Bitten

Eighteen

"I'm a werewolf." There was silence until,

"What?" Ron blurted out.

"I'm a werewolf," he repeated, the words easier to say the second time.

"How long?" Hermione asked.

"Since July." He looked down, scared of their reactions.

They'll be fine. They're pack, Romulus told him. Now head up, Alphas don't submit. Harry smiled slightly but did as he was told, raising his head again to look at his best friends. Ron and Hermione were looking at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation, something he had seen them do before, communicating solely through looks and small gestures. They had done it quite often when they had been co-parenting him when he had urges to do something stupid or got into one of his funks.

"Why the hell didn't you tell us mate? You should have known we wouldn't have cared," Ron exclaimed. He sighed. He knew why he hadn't told them, but at the same time, he didn't. Not really.

"I don't know. I guess, at first, that I was scared. Not of telling you, but because I didn't want anyone to find out." He was going to continue but was interrupted by Hermione.

"We wouldn't have told anyone Harry. You know we wouldn't have," she said, her voice pleading him to believe her. He ran his hand through his hair.

"I know that Hermione. I really do. It's just, what if someone heard. I didn't want anyone to overhear me telling you. Or hear us talking about it. I just." He sighed, running his hand through his hair again.

"I don't know. I didn't want anyone to find out, and that meant I couldn't bring myself to tell you. I didn't tell anyone, not even Remus. He worked it out himself, eventually. And that was only because he saw me with Gred and Forge, and he could tell that they are my mates.

"I just, I had a lot going on in my head, and by the time I worked everything out it had been months since I had been changed. And I felt that I had kept it a secret for so long that you would be angry at me for keeping a secret, so I just continued to not tell anyone. And I'm sorry. But I did the best that I could with the situation."

The five of them sat in silence after that declaration. Ron and Hermione were obviously thinking over what he had said, while Harry simply took comfort from his mates being there for him and trying not to worry about what he would do if they turned on him. Eventually, Ron broke the silence.

"So, what are you going to do next?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"Are you going to tell anyone? Neville? Ginny? Luna? Our parents?" he asked, gesturing to himself and the twins.

"I guess I should tell Neville and Ginny, considering they've stood with us since 5th year. It's only fair I tell them, what with you two knowing," Harry admitted slowly. He knew he should, but it didn't make that any easier.

"What about Luna?" Hermione asked.

"She already knows," he admitted, unsure about how they would react to that.

"You told her before us?" Ron shouted. Harry cringed. He had forgotten how loud Ron could be; he got his lungs from Mrs Weasley, and it was even worse with his more sensitive hearing.

"Ron! You're hurting Harry," Hermione said, slapping Ron's arm. Ron blinked and looked over to where Harry had hunched up slightly, ears covered to try and block some of the noise out.

"Sorry mate. I didn't think." Harry looked up, hands slowly lowering from his ears.

"It's ok. I'd forgotten how loud you could be."