Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to the incomparable J. K. Rowling. No money is being made from this.

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Harry couldn't remember how long he had been running. The sun hadn't been up when the Aurors took down the wards around the little cottage he had been staying at for the last couple of months with Teddy.

He tried Apparating again, only to grunt in pain as the wards stopped the magic from transporting them away.

He cursed, dodging another spell. How far did the damned wards stretch?

Teddy cried, burying his head on Harry's shoulder, and Harry wanted nothing more than to comfort him, but he couldn't. He couldn't stop.

He couldn't let the Ministry take Teddy.

He screamed as a curse hit his shoulder. He stumbled, leaning against a tree.

Teddy's cries grew louder, and Harry closed his eyes to stop his tears from falling.

"He's here!"

Harry forced his shaking legs to move, to carry them further. The wards would end soon, they had to.

He ran.

The ground disappeared from under him, and his heart stopped.

He closed his eyes, wrapping his body around Teddy. He didn't want to see the sharp rocks at the bottom of the cliff racing closer.

I'm sorry, Remus.

The magic jolt had Harry sitting upright in bed.

"Teddy!" he screamed before he realized he was awake, and the next second, he had a crying toddler in his arms, a bright blue shield forming around them.

"Teddy," he whispered, pulling him closer.

He took a quivering breath, trying to control his shaking.

"You're alive." He breathed in Teddy's scent. "You're okay."

Teddy gurgled at him, big watery green eyes locking with his own, and Harry slumped on the bed he was in.

He tensed as he saw movement from the corner of his eye. Only then did he take in the room he was in. He recognized it right away as an infirmary; however, he could also tell that he wasn't in the Ministry's hands. Nor was it St Mungo's, none of the people he could see had the official St Mungo's robes.

His wand slipped into his hand—Harry was forever grateful that Hermione had charmed it to never leave his person before they had been forced to flee—and he slowly raised it, taking care not to point it at anyone in particular.

There were five people in the room. Two of them seemed to have some kind of armor on and were glaring at him as if he had killed their puppies. Two others seemed to be healers. Then there was an older man, dressed to impress, and looking at him curiously.

"Who are you? Where are we?" he asked, his voice rough and raspy.

"Wizard," one of the armored men sneered, though he looked away at a glare from the finely dressed older man.

"You're in Atelia," the older man said. "The question now is, how did you get here? And why do you have a cub with you?"

Harry frowned, and the man explained, "Wizards are not meant to be able to pass through the wards around Atelia. That you have made it through has left the council worried that the wards might be failing."

"I… I was running from the Aurors. The last thing I remember is falling over a cliff." Harry's arm tightened around Teddy. "I thought we were going to die."

The man narrowed his eyes. "The cub?"

Harry leaned further away from the man, even though they were still separated by a shield. "Teddy's my son."

"Liar!" the other armored man snarled, eyes glowing amber. "You smell nothing like a wolf! Who did you steal the cub from?"

"Jona!" the man snapped, and Jona recoiled, lowering his head.

However, Harry had already jumped to his feet, wand pointing at the werewolf in the room.

"Teddy's mine!"

The man lifted his hands. "I apologize. Jona shouldn't have said that." The man took a step closer to the shield, and Harry aimed at him, making him stop.

"My name is Meical Trahern," the man said. "I am the head of the council. Have you ever heard of Atelia?"

Harry shook his head, his wand never wavering.

Trahern hummed. "This is a sanctuary," he said. "No human, witch or wizard, has ever been allowed inside. This place was created deep under the earth, to keep us safe from them."

"Werewolves?" Harry asked, glancing at Jona.

Trahern's lips twitched, and he shook his head.

"Creatures."

Harry looked up as the door to his small room in the infirmary opened and Trahern walked in.

After the revelation when he had woken up, he'd been taken to a private room. He had been in it for two days—at least he assumed it had been two days based on the meals he was served—and only a healer and Trahern had come in to see him.

He couldn't stop himself from tensing and let the tips of his fingers ghost over his wand. As the door closed, Harry made sure that he was between Teddy and Trahern.

Trahern raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

"When can I leave?" he asked.

"Mr. Potter, theoretically, you can leave whenever you wish, as long as you agree to be spelled into silence about Atelia."

"But?"

"The cub will remain here."

Harry snarled, wand pointing once again at the older man. "Over my dead body!"

Trahern sighed. "Yes, that seems to be what several on the council want."

Harry didn't lower his wand. He would not be cowed.

"The only thing stopping them is the fact that the cub sees you as his alpha. Separating such a young cub from their alpha will only harm them, no one wants that."

Trahern took a seat on one of the chairs beside the bed, peering at a sleeping Teddy.

"Some of us recognize the parental claim you have on the cub. However, none on the council will permit the cub to leave Atelia. If you wish to remain with the cub, you will be forced to stay here." Trahern's startling blue eyes locked with his own. "I will not lie to you, if you opt to remain, it will not be easy on you. You're human, a wizard, you're not welcomed."

"Teddy... will he be safe?"

Those hard eyes softened the tiniest bit, glancing once again towards Teddy.

"Teddy," Trahern whispered, his lips quirking upwards. "The cub will not be harmed."

Well, then his decision was made, wasn't it? It was hardly the first time he was unwanted. He could live through it again if it meant Teddy would be safe.

Harry nodded, and he saw Trahern's shoulders slumping just a smidgen.

"I'll inform the council."

Harry walked around the small house he had been given by the council. It was a two-bedroom near the shore of a lake, with a large backyard. When Harry had glanced at Trahern wondering why he had been given more than a little shack at the end of nowhere, Trahern had glanced at Teddy, and that had been all the answer Harry had needed.

"What do you think, Teddy-bear?"

He bounced Teddy softly, smiling at the giggles it produced.

Harry tickled his tummy, laughing as Teddy squirmed away from his fingers. He hadn't realized how much he had missed seeing Teddy so carefree.

Harry frowned at the knock on his door. Slowly, keeping Teddy hidden by the door, he opened it. There was a woman on the other side. She had a light blue tint to her skin and dark blue eyes and hair. Harry had no idea what she was.

"Yes?" he asked.

She smiled at him, the first person to do so since he had arrived at Atelia.

"I am Lawana." She inclined her head a little. "I am from the council. Meical was unable to come himself, so I volunteered. May I come in?"

Slowly, Harry stepped aside and let her in.

Teddy's eyes widened as soon as he saw her, clapping in delight. Suddenly, Harry was holding a blue toddler with blue eyes, hair, and skin.

Harry was startled at the tinkling laugh that filled his entrance hall. He looked at Lawana, who was looking at Teddy with delight.

"Such a talented little cub, aren't you?" she cooed, waving at him and making Teddy giggle up a storm.

Teddy chattered back at her, over the moon about this new person paying attention to him.

Lawana stepped closer and made to touch Teddy, but at the last second, she stopped. She looked at Harry, and he gave a tiny nod.

She smiled, warm and reassuring, and reached over to gently ruffle Teddy's hair.

"As I was saying," she said, letting Teddy grab her hand and inspect the rings on her fingers, "Meical couldn't come, so I volunteered. I'm going to show you where the market is. Meical said you had money?"

Harry nodded. "Hermione, my friend, was able to get the money from my vault at Gringotts before we had to run away."

Lawana nodded.

"In that case, I'll also take you to the bank. We don't use wizarding currency, you'll need to have it exchanged. I'll warn you now, the exchange rate is rather biased. As you were told, we don't get humans here, nor do we leave, as such, wizarding money has almost no value here. You will need to find an occupation." She stopped, looking unsure. "I believe you will have difficulty finding someone to employ you. Meical said that if you were unable to find anything, he would find something for you."

Harry wanted to protest, to reject the pity from the people that wanted to take Teddy from him just as much as the Ministry wanted to, but he didn't.

He had seen enough of their reactions to him to know what to expect.

"Thank you," he said instead, getting a small smile in return.

"Are you ready, then?"

Harry nodded, following her out of the house.

"The market close to your house has a bit of everything. Since the house is already furnished, you'll just need to find things for the cub."

"Why do you keep calling him cub?" Harry asked, walking beside her and doing his best to ignore the stares of the people they crossed on the street.

She stopped, looking back at him.

"Because, since he is a cub, we are not allowed to refer to him by name without his alpha's permission. At the moment, that is you."

"What do you mean, at the moment?" Harry frowned, once again pulling Teddy closer to his body.

"You're the only human in a creature society. Anyone of us would make a better alpha for the cub. He'll soon realize it. The alpha bond he has with you will shift. A true alpha will take your place."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "He's my son."

Lawana shook her head. "Such a human mentality. Did you not take him even though he is not your blood?" Before Harry could answer, she continued, "The same principle applies. He will seek out a true alpha. A human will never be able to understand him as we do."

"I love him."

She raised an eyebrow and said, "Then you should want what's best for him."

Harry hated that he couldn't argue with that. Was it selfish of him to think that what was best for Teddy was to remain with him?

"Come," Lawana said, "we don't have all day."

A.N.: Alright, so this was meant as a one-shot for the Quidditch League. However, the characters kinda took over and did whatever they wanted, so this is official an MC. It'll only be update after the judges have gone over it because I want to raise the rating to M and I'll only be able to do that once it's judged.