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Lycanthrope Factory	By : StarLightMassacre Category: Anita Blake > Crossovers > AB/Harry Potter Views: 23091 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 7
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Harry Potter; all rights go to J. K. Rowling. I do not own anything from Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter; all rights belong to Laurel K. Hamilton. I make no money for this piece of fictional writing and never will.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Last Time
Harry didn’t deserve to spend the rest of his life traumatised and miserable just because Anita wasn’t satisfied with how hard he was already trying. Harry had given them plenty of information already, he had even upset himself yesterday just to give them the name of one of those so called doctors. Harry was doing more than enough to help the investigation and he was needlessly upsetting himself over it just to help out the police.
He would not allow Anita to harm his boy in the name of justice. Where was the justice if they questioned Harry relentlessly to the point of mental collapse just to get the doctors behind bars for what they had done to him if Harry then suffered every day for the rest of his life because of their questioning? Were they then not as guilty for his mental instability as the doctors were? No, Anita and the police needed to find another way, because he refused to let Harry pay that high a price just so that Anita could put several people in handcuffs. In his mind, it just wasn’t worth it.
Chapter Thirteen – Present
Richard made sure to keep close to Harry as he ran around the grassy field. It was overcast today, with a hint of rain in the air, so he’d believed it to be the perfect time to take Harry out into the fresh air as there wasn’t any hint of the sun breaking through the clouds and thus, Harry could still come outside, but he wouldn’t have the strange reaction that he had to the sun. It wasn’t good for him to keep him underground all day every day, he needed fresh air and daylight, even if it was overcast and threatening rain.
Harry had readily agreed to come out and after a good, long walk, they’d arrived at a field and Richard smiled as Harry went rolling past him. He seemed so free and innocent like this, marvelling at being out in the open and able to touch grass, flowers and tree bark. He sniffed at everything, even licked it to taste what he was scenting and he was so, so happy that it broke his heart.
Here was a young boy, whether thirteen or twenty, who had spent his early years being abused and locked up in a cupboard. If that wasn’t bad enough he had then been sold to vicious people and he’d spent the rest of his young life in a cage as a cruel experiment for inhumane people in the name of science.
He was a high school science teacher, he understood all about curiosity and the need to know how things worked, but no one had the right to do this to other people in the name of anything. Those so called experiments had been innocent people! People who had been specifically targeted, hunted down and then abducted, taken without a trace. They had been scared, innocent people who had been injected with all sorts against their will and imprisoned in tiny cages in a sterile factory, lined up and just waiting for the next agonising, traumatising experiment to take place. Treated worse than animals, men, women, even pregnant women, and children. Those people who had called themselves scientists hadn’t spared anyone and had treated them all just as horrifically, it had been like they weren’t even seen as living things anymore, but objects that couldn’t think or feel anything, so it didn’t matter what had been done to them to those scientists. It made him sick.
He watched Harry run and dive around, touching everything, smelling it, tasting it and he felt lightheaded and queasy at the thought that this might have been the first time that Harry had seen a flower or a tree before, as he seemed overly fascinated with them. He was however many years old and he was just happy to be in a large field where he could run around and touch nature. It hurt his heart.
“Richard!” Harry screamed out to him and at once he was gone, flying across the field as fast as his legs could carry him to hunch over Harry where he was kneeling on the grass.
“What is it? Are you hurt?”
Harry blinked at him. “What’s that?” Harry asked curiously, pointing to a bug on a blade of grass.
Richard sucked in a deep lungful of air and let it out, calming himself and his racing heart. Harry wasn’t hurt, he’d just found something new that had piqued his curiosity. He just wanted an answer to sate his curiosity.
“It’s a bug, Harry.” Richard told him patiently.
“It’s crawling.” Harry pointed out.
Richard nodded. “It can fly too.”
Harry’s eyes went impossibly wide. “It can fly?! Like the birds?”
Harry craned his head back to look at the sky, hoping to see a bird, but all that was up there was endless grey clouds.
“Yes, like a bird, but it has different wings.”
Harry nodded and looked back at the poor bug, poking and prodding at it like a toddler.
“I remember worms. Lots of worms.” Harry told him. “When I used to do the gardening they always came out of the ground, but I don’t remember bugs.”
It started to rain and Harry looked up in shock.
“What is that?” He asked, shifting himself backwards until he was pressed against him.
“It’s rain, Harry. It’ll make us very wet, so we should be getting back to the Circus.”
Harry nodded and Richard stood, taking Harry’s hand and leading him back to the gate of the field so that they could start their walk back to the Circus.
“I remember getting wet in the cage.” Harry said softly on their walk as the rain came down heavier. “Alfie was a trainee and he used to spray us all with a hose every week. He liked aiming at our faces. It hurt when it hit my eye or my nose and it used to make me cry, but he’d just laugh and do it more.”
Richard kept the hand that was holding Harry’s loose and relaxed, but his other hand was clenched tight to try and control his anger and his wolf.
“Fabby was the worst assistant though. He was a mean and horrible old man and he liked poking stuff into me.”
“Fabby?” Richard questioned as lightly as he could with a clenched jaw.
“Fabbis, Fabbice, Fab…Fabest. Reece.”
Richard mouthed a little as he considered the name that Harry was trying to say and he had a light bulb moment.
“Fabrice?” He questioned and he knew he had it right when a shiver went through the length of Harry’s body. “That’s a very unusual name, did any of the others have strange names?” He asked carefully.
“Isa-ah. He was the head, head doctor. He started everything and all the other doctors were his.”
“Isa-ah? Isaac?”
Harry shook his head. “Issy-ah.”
“Isiah?”
Harry did the full body quiver again and hunched his shoulders up.
“Can you remember the names of the other head doctors?” Richard asked.
“Ruby.” Harry said clearly. “She was the head woman doctor and the oldest. She was horrible and mean and she liked hurting me. Wussel too, he liked hurting me as well.”
“Wussel? Do you mean Russel?” Richard questioned as they stopped to cross the road.
Harry nodded. “Benny was okay. He was younger and he was just really excited all the time. He was very tall though, your tall, but he had Jason’s hair.”
Richard forced himself to remember every single detail that Harry was giving him and the minute that they were back in the underground of the Circus, he passed Harry over to Wicked and his brother Truth and took a piece of paper and a pen from Jean-Claude’s desk, ignoring the vampire sat behind it so that he could write down everything that Harry had told him on their walk back to the Circus.
“Are you alright, mon ami?” Jean-Claude asked him once he’d stood up and stopped writing.
“Harry was very helpful today.” He said cryptically as he smiled tiredly to the boy who was watching him carefully and listening to his every word from Wicked’s arms. He pushed the piece of paper to Jean-Claude, who read it quickly.
“Oui, it seems that our Harry has been very helpful. I will call Anita immediately.”
“Was I good?” Harry asked after Jean-Claude had left the room.
“Yes, Harry. You’ve been very good.” Richard told him and he couldn’t help smiling when Harry beamed at him.
“Issy-ah and Ruby were brother and sister.” Harry said randomly. “They said so once. Ruby was older, but Issy-ah was the head, head doctor. He set everything up and it was his money buying all the stuff.”
“Thank you, Harry. You’ve been so good today. Do you want a nap, or maybe something to eat?”
“Saucy stuff!” Harry said excitedly and Richard couldn’t help shaking his head and cursing Jason and Stephen for introducing Harry to chocolate sauce.
“Do you want a banana first?” He asked.
Harry frowned consideringly and he nodded. “Can I have saucy stuff and nana-mush?”
Richard blinked and then he nodded, wondering why he hadn’t thought of putting the two together in order to get Harry to eat more.
Harry cheered and squirmed to be put down and he loped over to him and took his hand, looking up at him expectantly.
Richard took him to the small kitchen, which was more of a break room for the guards, where he peeled a banana and mashed it up with a fork. He drizzled over the chocolate sauce and gave the bowl to Harry with one of the weaning spoons that Jason had bought for Harry.
Harry took the spoon and used it to eat the bowl of what was essentially baby food, able to eat with the spoon because it didn’t remind him of any experiments and it didn’t hurt him.
Richard was very happy that Harry had eaten all of his banana and chocolate sauce and he was sucking on a carton of apple juice. He was getting closer and closer to being able to eat normally, without the use of a drip…at least for regular food, there was nothing that they could do about the blood feeds as he didn’t have any fangs, but he still needed the blood to keep himself fed and healthy.
“I’m sleepy now, Richard.” Harry told him softly.
“Come here then. Do you want to sleep in your bed?”
Harry nodded, rubbing his eyes and Richard led him to his room, further underground and he took off Harry’s shoes and socks, undid the button and the fly on his loose jeans and tucked him in.
He stayed with Harry until he fell asleep before he made a quick detour to the living room.
“Where is Harry?” A recently awakened Asher asked.
“He’s taking a nap, he ate all of his lunch and he was tired afterwards.” He told Asher before turning to Jean-Claude. “Harry said that Ruby and Isiah are brother and sister. Ruby was older, but Isiah was the one who set up the factory with his money.”
“He’s being very talkative about the doctors today.”
Richard shook his head. “I don’t understand why he’s being so helpful today, but he must feel more comfortable, though he flinched every time I confirmed a name. I think he’s picked up on Anita’s lack of patience on the matter and so he’s trying to answer more questions, but it’s distressing him.”
“I will speak to him when he awakens.” Asher said. “If he is overly distressed about the matter, then I will allow no more questions this week.”
Richard nodded his agreement and quickly went back to the bedroom to sit on the bed with his marking work for Seckman Junior High while Harry slept. He would absolutely hate for Harry to have a nightmare when no one was there to help him if he woke up in terror.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X
Anita accepted the information Jean-Claude gave her with as much patience as she could muster as she jotted down the little bits that Harry had revealed.
“It’s better than nothing.” Bradford insisted as he peered over her shoulder at the scrap of paper. “How many people are called Fabrice or Isiah?”
“A couple thousand maybe.” Anita replied scathingly.
“Not in connection with one another they aren’t. These people all know one another, they’ve worked together, Anita and we’re getting more and more information. Slowly maybe and not what we want to know, but it’s something and it can help us and now that we’re closing in on those Dursleys, I think that we’ll crack this case soon enough.”
“I hope so; I’ve had enough of seeing those bodies being pulled out of the ground.”
Bradford nodded understandingly. “I know what you mean. Every new body is evidence, but every new body is also a person who has suffered a terrible ordeal and all those babies, I can’t even look at them.”
Anita grimaced. “I don’t want to see them, but I can’t not look, just in case there is a speck of evidence that could help us. I have nightmares about it every night.”
“I’ve had a few.” Bradford admitted. “This is a bad case. I’ve never known anything else like it. The cruelty of some people will never cease to surprise me.”
Anita shook her head. “I just can’t wait for this case to be over. Are you still glad that I brought you in on this one?” She asked him seriously.
Bradley sighed. “I am, because this is the case of the century and I couldn’t stand another month of paperwork, but it is a bad one.”
“Agreed. Where are we going next? Have you heard from that contact in Britain yet?”
“Not yet, but let’s see what we can do with this information first. Maybe instead of going to question Harry, we should just wait to see what information he gives us. It could be better all around, as we really don’t want him distressed or even more traumatised than he already is.”
“This case could last for months if we don’t ask him questions.” Anita denied.
“His mental wellbeing is more important here, Anita.” Bradley told her.
Anita sighed and she knew that she was not going to win this argument, the FBI wouldn’t risk having the public finding out that they’d questioned a mentally unstable boy who had been severely abused and then locked in a cage and experimented on. There would be a massive backlash from the public.
“Let’s hope that he feels more like sharing then, because this case is going to stay with me for a very long time.” Anita sighed heavily.
“Let’s get going then, we have a lot to be getting on with and we need to give these names to the task force so that they can start looking for connections to people.”
They both stopped and looked at Anita’s cell, which had just started ringing.
“Maybe Harry has given them more information.” Bradley suggested hopefully.
Anita answered it and listened intently and she smiled happily. She said goodbye to Jean-Claude and looked to Bradley with a satisfied look.
“Was it to do with Harry? Has he remembered something significant?”
“Definitely.” Anita said with a smile that was turning almost feral. “He told Jean-Claude that Isiah and Ruby are brother and sister. They mentioned it only once in his hearing range and though Ruby was older, Isiah was the mastermind behind the factory. Harry says that it’s his money that set it all up and it was his idea to set it all up in the first place. According to Jean-Claude, Harry phrased it as ‘Isiah was the head, head doctor and all the other doctors were his.’”
Bradley laughed. “Oh now that is going to help. How many people, who are medically trained, are going to be brother and sister called Isiah and Ruby? I really think we’ve got them, Anita. This scrap of seemingly inane information could change things drastically.”
“Let’s not waste any time then, the longer we wait, the more time we’re giving these people to get underground and hide. Let’s get this information to the task force and they can start searching for these people and we can pray that the blood sample that we have matches one of them.”
“At this point, I really think we can hope for that, but let’s hope that one or both of them crack under the pressure of being questioned and leads us to all of the other doctors, the trainees and assistants and everyone else involved in this macabre factory.”
“Trust me, Bradley. Give me five minutes with them and they’ll crack.”
“If we can’t get them to talk by the books, I say we sneak you in for more ah…traditional methods of interrogation. Off the record and with no cameras, of course. It’ll be like you were never there.”
Anita chuckled darkly. “We’ll see what Harry comes up with next.”
“Perhaps when you go back to the Circus you could praise him a little, maybe give him a gift for being so good. Perhaps if he realises that speaking about these painful things will get him treats, he’ll be more ready to share information, because at the moment, all talking gets him is painful memories, nightmares and a feeling of upset and fear. If we can replace that with something positive, it might help him a lot.”
Anita nodded at the logic of that and she made a mental note to pick up something on the way home for Harry, because though she thought he was manipulative and knew more than he was letting on, he was still a survivor of this hideous factory. He had been sold into this life by his own relatives to those doctors and he had even been abused by the people who were supposed to have loved and cared for him before he’d even set foot in the factory. He’d lived a terrible life so far, he couldn’t remember anything other than abuse and torment and he could be as old as twenty. It was despicable.
She would catch these people and she would ease up a little on Harry. If her men wanted to spoil him and raise him like some little puppy, she wouldn’t stop them, but she would have no part in treating him like a toddler when she thought that it was better to teach him how to care for himself properly.
But she would look the other way and allow them to do as they pleased, she couldn’t deny that what they were doing was actually working. Harry was eating, perhaps not normal food, but he was off of the drips quicker than Lillian had expected him to be. He was eating with a spoon now according to Jason, and not with his fingers, which was a definite improvement. He no longer got lost in the Circus and apparently he was now struggling when he was picked up as he sometimes wanted to stay on the floor. He did still like holding hands though, but he walked while holding hands instead of being picked up and carried all the time. It was a small improvement maybe, but it was an improvement nonetheless and she wouldn’t diminish that, he was doing well and she couldn’t forget that he’d been kept in a cage for at least several years and before that, he’d been kept in a cupboard. He didn’t know any different and thus she needed to be patient, it was just unfortunate that patience really was not her strong suit.
She needed to ease off of him now, he’d done well with remembering this information today and she would take Agent Bradford’s advice, she would buy him a small present and praise him when she got back and hopefully he would feel more positively and he’d reveal more to them in order to get more treats.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X
Harry had been given a bath and he was in a soft, fresh pair of pyjamas, waiting for his hair to dry so that he could go to bed.
He was colouring at Jean-Claude’s desk, sat on the vampire’s lap as he scribbled down his red pencil nub. When there was next to nothing left, he passed it over to Stephen, who would do something to it and pass it back all sharp and pointy again. It made him giggle every time.
Someone came through the curtains and Harry looked up immediately. He drew back a little when he saw Anita. She smiled at him and he cocked his head confusedly. She didn’t usually smile at him, she usually shouted.
She greeted everyone and then came to kiss Jean-Claude, that was usual, so he relaxed a little. He was safe here, he knew that now.
“You were so good today, Harry.”
Harry looked back to her and frowned. This was new. He didn’t like it, it reminded him of the doctors and all their different experiments, they’d pretended to be kind to him too and then they had hurt him worse.
“I just thought you should know that you really helped today and you were very good. I got you a present for being so good.”
Harry blinked at that and he sat up a little straighter. She’d got him a present? Like his clothes and his colouring book and his pencils?
“Would you like your present?”
Was this a trick? He chewed on his bottom lip as he considered what was being said to him. She wasn’t usually smiley or nice, she never liked him, so why was today different? Was it because he’d been good today and had told about the doctors, or was it just a trick?
He sat back further into Jean-Claude, just in case, and he nodded tentatively. He did want a present, he liked presents, but he hadn’t ever had any before he’d come out of his cage and he was a little wary of them.
Anita smiled at him and put her hand into a bag she had and she pulled out a new, even bigger colouring book and Harry couldn’t help the excited noise that came from his mouth as he reached out for it. He’d almost finished his book that Stephen had given him and this new one was even bigger!
He wiggled off of Jean-Claude’s lap and wrapped his arms around Anita’s neck and hugged her, giving her a kiss to the cheek as he picked up the big, heavy book. He grinned and shoved it at Jean-Claude and he was picked back up and sat back on the vampire’s lap.
He opened his new book and gaped at all the new pictures that he could colour in and thanks to Jamil, his hand didn’t hurt anymore and he could stay in between the lines better, so he could do his new book properly.
“What do you say to Anita, mon ange?” Asher asked.
Harry looked up to his favourite vampire and looked back to Anita, who was stood greeting Nathaniel.
He looked back to Asher, who made an encouraging movement to him and he frowned, looking back to Anita.
“Please?” He said, then shook his head, that wasn’t right. He mouthed a little, digging in his memories for the right word. “Welcome?”
“Thank…” Jason prompted him from the settee and he sat up and grinned as it triggered something in his mind.
“Thank you!” He said enthusiastically with a grin. “Thank you for my new book.”
“That’s alright, Harry. You were very good today.”
Harry went back to his new book and he carefully selected the colour he wanted and he started colouring very carefully. He didn’t want to go out of the lines at all in this book, he wanted it to be perfect as he coloured in the little bird on the pond with his blue pencil. He’d seen birds that were blue before, he knew they were blue, black or white, but he liked the blue ones better, they were prettier.
“This is a duckling, Harry.” Stephen told him.
“Duckling.” Harry repeated, studying the picture carefully and committing it to memory so if he saw another one, he’d know what it was.
Stephen typed something into his phone and turned it to show him.
“It’s yellow!” He said in shock. “Birds aren’t yellow!”
“Ducklings are.” He was told softly and then Stephen showed him another picture. “This is an adult duckling, it’s called a duck.”
Harry looked at it blankly before looking to his picture. He looked to his pencils and picked up the colour that matched. “Bark.” He said happily.
“Brown.” Stephen corrected him. “The colour brown is the colour of tree bark.”
“Oh.” Harry said deflating a little as he started at the pencil. “Bown.”
“Brown.” He was corrected and he concentrated hard and mouthed a little.
“Brown.” He repeated.
“Good boy.”
“I’m doing it wrong.” He said sadly as he looked at his blue duckling. “I only saw white, black or blue birds, I thought they were all that colour and blue was the prettiest.”
“It’s not wrong, Harry. It’s just creative.”
Harry looked at Jason confusedly.
“It means that you do things your own way.” Anita told him. “It’s not wrong to do it different, you’re just making it yours.”
Harry grinned and nodded as he carried on colouring his duckling blue. “So my duckling can be blue and my grass can be yellow, because it’s mine.”
“Oui, mon petit pétale.” Jean-Claude encouraged.
“Ten more minutes, mon ange, then you need to go to bed.” Asher told him.
“Richard isn’t back yet!” Harry cried out in denial. “I have no one to go to bed with!”
“You could spend the night in my room if you wanted.” Jason offered lightly. “It’ll be like a sleepover.”
That word triggered a deep, old memory and Harry cocked his head to peruse it. He remembered his cousin having a sleepover with all of his friends and having lots of fun while he was locked in his cupboard. He wanted a sleepover, so he smiled. He nodded his head and slid down to the floor and loped over to Jason and climbed up onto his lap, straddling him.
“So I stay with you for tonight. Can Stephen come with us?”
“Sure, my bed will fit three as you’re very small.”
Harry grinned and cuddled into Jason happily.
“Nathaniel too?” Harry asked.
“Now fitting him and those new shoulders of his in our bed might be a little difficult.” Jason said.
“We’ll work something out, I’m sure. You don’t mind, do you Anita?” Nathaniel asked her softly.
She shook her head. “No, I heard about his sleeping troubles, it might help to have you there as Richard won’t be back until late. There’s a crisis with a werewolf at the coalition, Micah texted me to say that they’d both be home late.”
Nathaniel nodded and Anita watched as Harry was bundled up and sequestered away. He was already fast asleep on Jason’s shoulder. It still creeped her out how quickly he could fall asleep and how quickly he became alert after just waking up. She knew that it was because of the trauma of living in a cage and not knowing when he was going to be pulled out for an experiment, but it was still rather unnatural.
“You seem to be in a good mood today, ma petite.” Jean-Claude said carefully.
“Not a good mood, not after the two new babies we pulled out of the ground this evening, I’m just grateful for the information, particularly that two of the doctors are related, Agent Bradford suggested praising Harry and giving him a gift to make him feel like the exchange of information was more positive, rather than something that will only give him more nightmares.”
“It was still kind and the gift you chose was rather well thought out.” Jean-Claude insisted.
“I called Nathaniel while I was taking a half an hour to eat and he told me that Harry was coming to the end of his colouring book.”
“Have you fed other hungers?”
Anita shook her head. “I fed the ardeur this morning, but with Micah working late and Nathaniel sleeping with Harry, I don’t have anyone to help me feed tomorrow morning.”
“Come, we shall retire for tonight and if you need to feed again tomorrow, we shall deal with it.” Jean-Claude insisted as he took Anita’s hand and led her away. It was Anita who grabbed a hold of Asher’s hand and pulled him along too.
“Are you sure, ma Cherie?”
“I’m sure.” She said with a smile. “I’ve been distant lately, with this case going on as long as it is and I’m working every day, it’s getting to me and making me edgy. So I think I’ve earned a lie in tomorrow, unless Bradford calls me early with a breakthrough, I should be able to spend some time with you both.”
“Let us not waste this precious time then.” Jean-Claude insisted as he pulled Anita to his bedroom and she in turn pulled Asher.
It had been a while since the three of them had been in the bedroom together. He was going to savour tonight, even if he had to tease the both of them for hours.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X
Harry woke up warm and cosy, sandwiched between two bodies that were both holding him tight and he poked his head up to look around him. He didn’t recognise the feel of the bed he was in.
He remembered then that he’d gone to bed with Jason, Stephen and Nathaniel because Richard wasn’t going to be home in time for him to go to sleep.
He snuggled back in and he went back to sleep, reassured that he was safe in his sleep tucked under Jason’s arm and against Nathaniel’s back with Stephen just on the other side of the lovely wereleopard. The doctors wouldn’t get him here, surrounded by so many people. He was completely safe and he could sleep in peace.
He woke up again when someone moved and he shot upright and he looked around, hoping that he was still safe.
“Am I safe?” He asked softly.
“You’re safe.” Jason told him. “It’s morning though, you need breakfast and I need a shower, we have rehearsal today.”
Harry grinned. “I remember.”
“Good morning, Harry. Did you sleep alright?” Nathaniel asked him.
Harry nodded his head as he brushed his eyes with his hands. “I had lots of sleep tonight. You keep away the doctors.”
“That’s a good thing.” Stephen told him as he pulled him into a hug.
Harry got off the bed and stretched before he went to the door.
“Are you going to find Richard?” Jason asked.
Harry nodded as he turned the orb shaped handle and loped away to find Richard. He knew enough now to find his way to the living room without getting lost and he grinned as he rushed to the living room to find Richard. Thankfully he was stood right there in the living room and Harry was so happy to see him.
He slipped up behind the big werewolf and wrapped his arms around his waist.
“I missed you last night.” He said softly.
“I missed you too. Did you sleep alright?”
Harry nodded happily. “Yes. Did you sleep okay without me?”
“Well, it was a little lonely and cold all on my own, but I did sleep alright.” Richard said with a smile.
Harry laughed and squeezed him tight.
“I wanted to see you before you went to work. Is Jamil staying with me again?”
“No, Jamil needs to go out of town for a bit.”
“Will I be on my own?” Harry frowned.
“No, Harry. No. You’ll be with Micah today.”
“Cat man.” Harry said in a whisper.
“I know he’s not your favourite, but he’s the only one today, Harry. Unless you want to stay with Claudia and Lisandro?”
Harry shook his head empathetically. “No. They still don’t like me after I binded them, I’ll stay with Micah.”
“I’m not in work tomorrow, Harry. I can spend the day with you.”
Harry grinned widely and he clapped his hands. “Yay, can we go back outside? I like the outside.”
“Sure, I’ll find us something to do.”
Harry squealed.
“Well, you are excited.”
Harry turned and smiled at the cat man. Micah had never hurt him and had never wanted to. Not like the other cat man in the factory. He’d been horrible to him.
“Richard is spending the day with me tomorrow!” Harry said excitedly. “Will we have fun today too?”
“I’m sure we will. You need some more clothes, so we’re going to get you some new ones.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea to take him out around other people?”
“I think he’s shown that he’s doing well enough for a quick trip to a clothes shop.” Micah said with a smile. “He’s ripped three shirts, worn holes in two pairs of jeans and he used a tee-shirt to put glue on a chair so that he could make it glittery.”
“I thought it was a good idea at the time.” Harry said with a bashful shrug. “I wanted to use paint, but I couldn’t open the top and Graham wouldn’t open it for me.”
The two men laughed and Harry grinned at having made them happy.
“I see your point. But you watch him, you keep hold of his hand at all times!” Richard said seriously.
“You know that I will, Richard. I care for him too.”
Richard nodded and he hugged Harry goodbye as Jason, Stephen and Nathaniel came into the living room.
“You three need a ride to Guilty Pleasures?” Richard asked. “It’s on the way to the school.”
“Thank you.” Stephen answered respectfully of his Ulfric.
An hour later Harry was dressed, his hair had been combed and tied back and he had happily eaten his breakfast of watery porridge with his soft spoon, though he kept an eye on Micah the cat man.
“Are you ready to go?”
Harry nodded as he sucked his juice carton. He knew how to open it with a straw now, but he couldn’t suck with the straw, he couldn’t get his mouth around it properly.
He sat in the car happily enough, he remembered this from when Richard had taken him out, for the big moon. He was safe, he knew that, the car was nothing to be afraid of.
Harry was happy to hold Micah’s hand and he watched interestedly as they passed all the other people.
“Lots of people.” He said as he took all of them in. There were so many of them and they were all different and interesting.
“They’re nothing to be afraid of, I promise. They’re just going about their own business, just like we are. We’re going shopping and so are they.”
Harry grinned. “Okay. We’re shopping.” He told a passing woman, who leapt away from him in fright.
“I’m sorry. He doesn’t mean any harm.” Micah said with a disarming smile from behind his sunglasses.
The woman nodded, but she hurried away quickly.
Harry kept trying to go down to the floor when things caught his attention, but Micah held his hand tightly and kept him on his feet and walking.
“Have you had ice cream before?” He asked to distract him.
Harry shook his head. “Is it food?”
Micah nodded. “Nice food. If you’re good, we can get some after we’ve gotten you some new clothes.”
Harry nodded. “I’ll be good. I might get more colouring books!” He said excitedly.
Micah chuckled and pulled him in closer and wrapped an arm around his shoulders as they made their way through the mall and into a clothes shop.
Harry was not interested in picking out his favourite shirts, he wouldn’t even pick between colours and showed no interest in fashion or shopping at all. He wanted to play with the rails, the coat hangers, the flooring and even stretched himself up to touch mirrors and pictures that were hanging on the walls. So Micah kept a very close eye on him, and an ear, as he picked out clothes for Harry, including new jeans and some warm jumpers.
He paid quickly, went into a few more stores and got some more clothes, and then he took Harry for the ice cream that he’d promised him. He hadn’t realised exactly how challenging that would be, however. Perhaps he should have and he’d known that it was a mistake the moment the words had left his mouth when he’d asked Harry what flavour he wanted, because of course Harry didn’t know what he was talking about and blinked blankly at him before looking at the large selection of ice cream on offer.
“Let’s just get you a vanilla.” Micah said wryly.
Harry nodded and he smiled as he watched the man behind the counter scoop out one vanilla and then one strawberry scoop into little cardboard pots with a little plastic spoon.

“Use your fingers, Harry.” Micah encouraged. “You won’t like the plastic spoon. It’ll be cold, but I’m sure you’ll like it.”
Harry did like the ice cream. A lot. He finished his own vanilla scoop and then started dipping his already sticky fingers into Micah’s half eaten strawberry scoop. He laughed and handed it over happily enough, letting Harry taste the difference between vanilla and strawberry.
“Which one did you like the most?” Micah asked as he made sure that he had all of his bags with him as he held on tightly to Harry’s hand as he bounced around him, trying to dart off to whatever had caught his attention. Perhaps getting him the ice cream had been a bad idea for more reasons than just picking a flavour.
“I liked them both, but yours was better.” Harry said with a grin.
“Next time you can try different ones.” He promised, already thinking about texting Nathaniel to pick up some tubs for Harry to try as a treat. It would be better for him to have his hyper sugar rush in the safety of the Circus rather than out here in a public mall.
“Thank you, Micah. You’re not bad at all. I thought all cat men were bad, but you’re not.”
“Of course not. I care about you very much.” Micah promised as he reaffirmed his grip on Harry’s hand and took them back to the car.
“The other cat man was bad. His cage was right next to mine and he liked biting me. He’d pull my legs through the bars and bite me. He bit everyone, even the doctors!” Harry said the last in a whisper, as if he couldn’t possibly image anyone doing such a thing.
Micah hummed but he shook the bags down his arm and used his free hand to pull out his cell phone. He texted Anita the new information as he got Harry settled in the car and put the bags in the back.
“Did you have a good time?” Micah asked.
Harry nodded. “I missed my colouring, but I liked going shopping and I liked ice cream too.”
“I’m glad, maybe we could do it again some when?”
Harry nodded and smiled. “I’d like that. You’re not a bad cat man.”
Micah parked up at the Circus and got Harry inside with his bags and immediately distracted him with his colouring. He indicated that Fredo, who was standing on guard in the otherwise empty living room, should watch Harry for a moment while he put the bags away. He called Anita when he was in Harry’s room packing away the new clothes.
‘Hey Micah, thanks for the text.’
“You got it then? I remember you said about the body you’d found with the blood on the teeth. It fits with what Harry was telling me.”
‘It fits more than you know. The body has weretiger DNA and with Harry confirming that he was biting the doctors, we’re now very hopeful that that blood sample will match to one of the doctors. If you can, see if Harry knows who this man bit last, if we have names to throw around when we catch any of these people, it’ll help the inquiries.’
“I’ll see what I can do. He’s in a good mood at the moment. He had his first taste of ice cream and he’s back with that colouring book you bought for him. I’ll text you anything more that I find out.”
‘Thank you, Micah. I’ll see you later tonight.’
“I love you.”
‘I love you more.’
Micah chuckled and headed back into the living room. Harry was still sat on the floor, colouring furiously. His hot air balloon was very creatively coloured and his sun was purple.
“That looks lovely, Harry.” He praised.
Harry grinned and stopped working for a moment to look at him.
“I like this colour.” He said pointing to the sun.
“That’s purple.” Micah told him.
“Purple.” Harry repeated as he picked up the purple pencil, staring at it hard. “Purple.”
“Purple is often thought to be a regal colour, as most royal families wear it.”
Harry blinked at him. “Why doesn’t Jean-Claude wear purple then?”
Micah tried not to laugh, but there was no way he could stop himself from grinning.
“He likes white better.”
“But white is blank, it’s nothing. He should wear purple.” Harry nodded and Micah bit his lip to keep his laughter in as Fredo coughed to cover a laugh from where he was stood at the back wall.
Micah sat with Harry, fed him his lunch and watched as the boy coloured and fought off sleep before he brought up the topic of the cat man again. He’d even sat himself on the floor and asked if he could colour with Harry, though he was using blank paper and not a colouring book, but Harry had allowed him to use his pencils. It was a small show of trust on Harry’s part and a bit of proof that Harry didn’t completely hate him. He took it for the good omen that it was, he just hoped that Harry still liked him after he had questioned him a little bit. Though the worst thing about questioning Harry was obviously how upset or distressed it could possibly make him. He would hate to destroy the small bond that they’d begun forming today, not to mention the fact that Richard and Asher would likely never forgive him if he upset Harry overly much, if they didn’t out right tear him to pieces.
“You know you told me about the cat man, Harry. That he liked biting the doctors? Do you remember which doctor he bit last?” He asked right to the point. He didn’t want to waste questions by asking little, useless things that wouldn’t help and risk Harry getting too upset when he asked the important question that Anita wanted asked and then clamming up.
The effect had been immediate. Harry had stopped what he was doing and he had stilled from the moment that he had mentioned the cat man and he’d whimpered when he’d mentioned the doctors, but he’d taken in a deep breath and he’d settled himself. He did not make eye contact and he fiddled with his pencil, watching it as he played with it.
“The doctors didn’t like him. He was always biting them. He bit Ruby the last time, before Issy-ah had enough and he shot him in the head and told the underlings to bury him. That was just before the factory was found. I was glad he was gone, I didn’t like him eating me.”
“Eating you?” Micah asked, trying to get eye contact with Harry. “He wasn’t just biting you?”
Harry shook his head. “He said that he missed chewing and he missed eating meat. He would bite me and the girl on the other side of him. He’d take bites out of us, even when the doctors poked him with the shocky sticks.”
“But the last doctor he bit was Ruby?”
Harry nodded. “She opened his brain to see what was making him bite people, but when he was being put back in his cage he fought off the sleepy medicine and he bit her arm, dragging his teeth down it. Issy-ah hated seeing his sister hurt, so he ordered the cat man to be killed. All his blood and brainy bits got on me when he was shot.”
“He was shot next to you?” Micah asked in horror.
Harry nodded. “Issy-ah ordered him killed right away and a man pulled out a gun and shot him in the head. It exploded and went out everywhere and I couldn’t get away because I was in my cage.”
Micah nodded, trying to look reassuring even though he felt sick to his stomach. “You’re away from them now, Harry. You won’t ever see them again.”
Harry nodded his head trustingly. “I like it here.” He said simply before going back to his colouring.
Micah made an excuse about needing the bathroom and he left to call Anita again. He hoped that Ruby being the last doctor bitten would help her and Agent Bradford in their investigation. He saw how badly affected Anita was with this case and he knew, just from what Harry had said and the tidbits that Anita had told him that this case was very bad, she was even having the odd nightmare herself because of this case, something which he couldn’t ever remember happening to his lover before. He wanted this all over and done with already, for her sake, and for Harry’s.
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A/N: We are now getting close to the end of this fic and everything is coming together. For those who are asking about the magical world and Dumbledore, Sirius etc…they are never going to find Harry, the FBI are hiding him and you can bet that Jean-Claude, as the Master of the city of Saint Louis, will protect him and keep him hidden and safe for the rest of his life. Harry is a panwere, part vampire. He’s one of them now and they will all protect him, if Dumbledore did somehow find him, he wouldn’t even get close to him and Harry doesn’t even know who he is himself, let alone who Dumbledore, Sirius or Remus are, he’s never met them before, but no, I plan for the wizarding world to have very little to do with this fic. Harry is magical and he does have little outbursts, as shown in the fic, but other than that, and a visit from a magical representative to explain a little later on, the wizarding world will be absent and won’t play any part in this story as I want to keep it focused just on Harry and his recovery and his chance for justice.
Thank you all for reading and I hope that you’ve all enjoyed this chapter and I’ll be back soon with another one as soon as I can get it written between my other fics,
StarLight Massacre. X
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Lycanthrope Factory