Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.

Midnight Prowl

Whistling, the Security Guard at London Zoo made his rounds, not expecting anything out of the ordinary. Little did he know, that at that exact time he was checking the Reptile House, the newly imported Black Panther was escaping his enclosure.

Leaving the Reptile House, the Guard locked the door behind him and made his way over to the private collection of animals not on view for the public. He wanted to have a look at the new cat they had caught in Scotland. Strange place to find a leopard...

He knew cats didn't really like being contained. Shivering, he tried not to dwell on that thought. The Security Guard knew well enough that contained cats are not happy ones. He wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers as he suddenly felt vulnerable all alone in the dark. Creeping quietly over to the out of bounds enclosures, a light over head lit up his name badge; James Moore.

The black cat slunk through the shadows, and then paused; he could hear something.

James took a few minutes, fumbling nervously with his keys and unlocking the gate as he looked over his shoulder every minute, paranoid that something was going to jump out of the shadows at him.

Finally he opened the gate and gratefully slipped inside.

The leopard's eyes narrowed as he locked his gaze on a shape slipping through a gap up ahead. He crept closer to the ground as he slid forward towards the shape, keeping to the darkness.

James peered into the night, he couldn't see much. His paranoia was growing worse though; he imagined dark shapes in the night moving toward him, hearing growls from the other enclosure that seemed to be getting closer. James was trembling by then, the hairs on the back of his neck and arms on end, and palms sweating gallons as he moved cautiously across the open space that was for delivery trucks.

As the cat drew nearer, he could smell the sweat that meant fear. He growled low in her throat.

Flashes of James' last encounter with a big cat ran through his mind as he span round to the right to try and locate the low growl he could have sworn he'd heard.

Him and five others carrying a huge crate that contained an Asian Lynx over to an empty enclosure. Feeling the crate tip as the cat stood, beginning to wake to early. His heart thumping and blood pounding in his ears as he watched the crate fall in slow motion. The wood splintering into a thousand pieces as it hit the ground. His ears being over-powered by the loud and furious snarl that came from the cat as he landed. The cat jumping up and spinning around, then locking his gaze on him. The cat pouncing and knocking him to the ground. The agony as the 30mm canines sunk into his arm like a knife into soft butter. The scream of pain that rang through the night, then shock at realising it was his own voice. Claws ripping through the flesh of his upper arm. The pain, and the fountains of scarlet blood being produced. The bang of a gun. Then the lynx spinning around to locate the sound. The sob of relief as he tried to crawl away. Another bang as other men fired a tranquiliser gun. The cat growing dizzy, after the tranquiliser hit, and staggering around. The worry he felt as the cat fell heavily on his paw. The confusion as everything began to blur. Then the relief as he fell unconscious.

James was openly crying now, certain he was going to die. Somehow he remembered that the lynx had fractured his paw when he fell. Heart pounding even harder, rackety breathing as he tried not to panic, he span around to try and locate the shape he was certain was there circling him. He jumped as another growl rang out from behind him.

The exotic cat began to circle his prey as he drew ever nearer. He could sense the unease and it made him even more dangerous. He growled as he stalked behind the creature. He jumped back as the creature fell.

Finally, James legs could support him no more and he fell. He was terrified. He was imagining more and more shapes circling him. More and more growls and snarls echoing around the open space. He started choking in absolute terror as he caught sight of white fangs flashing on his left. He screamed as he looked into emerald green eyes. 'I'm going to die,' he thought.

"Help! Someone please help!" he suddenly found his voice and screamed for all he was worth, hoping upon all hope someone would hear him.

Emerald eyes flashed as the panther skittered backwards, un-nerved at the strange sounds the creature was making. They sounded familiar. As though from a past life.

Sobbing out words unintelligibly, James tried to stand. Tried and failed. He fell back down and landed on his arm heavily. Fresh waves of tears streamed down his face as he saw blood soak through his shirt. His arm had landed on a sharp stone.

The creature tried to stand, but fell again. A pool of red appeared on is strange coat. He caught a scent and licked his whiskers; blood.

James panicked; he knew that big cats could smell blood from a while off. He scrambled backwards as he saw the exotic midnight black cat raise his majestic head, sniff the air, then lick his whiskers; he had the scent.

He could see the creature panic as it tried to get away. He wasn't having any of that. Crouching, the cat sneaked forwards, still slightly un-nerved at the sounds the creature was making, and pounced.

James held his arm to his chest and started to scream again for help as he saw the panther crouch and get ready to pounce; too late, he jumped.

The panther soared through the air and landed on James' chest with practised precision. He was getting better at this.

The foreign cat seemed to fly through the air before landing on James, knocking him to the ground. James was worse than just terrified; he was petrified with fear as he knew what was going to happen to him. He closed his eyes and prayed as he waited for the cat to kill him.

'Please don't punish this cat, he knows nothing wrong. He's somewhere new and doesn't like it. Hunting is his natural state of mind. Please make sure he is okay after I'm gone. Also please look after my family, my wife Cassandra, and our new born son Joseph-Louis. Make sure Cassandra finds a good man to look after her, and that he will be a good father to Joseph,'

"Good bye, Cassandra," James said this last part out loud, hoping wife would hear him, but knowing she couldn't. "I love you,"

The black leopard stared down at the creature, it was making all sorts of strange noises, it was pitiful. It reminded him of other creatures in the forest trying to hide their newborns from him as he hunted. But still there was the unease at the back of his mind that he knew what the noises meant, he just couldn't remember...

The cat growled, and felt the creature squirm.

James was confused; shouldn't the panther have killed him by now? Then the panther growled. It echoed through his entire body, and he felt some of the power that cats keep to themselves. Trying to ignore the slight pain in his arm, James wriggled under the weight of the big cat, he was heavy, and it was hard to breathe. He opened one eye to look up at the weight on top of him.

The creature opened one of its eyes. The panther looked down at it, he had decided not to kill it. He didn't know why, he just had.

Hardly believing his luck, James opened both eyes. The black cat was just sitting there, panting slightly. James' terror subsided partially. He couldn't figure out why the cat wasn't ripping his throat out. Trembling, he lifted one hand, knowing that if he decided to attack now, his arm wasn't going to survive another mauling.

The creature lifted one of its paws. What was this creature? He'd seen them before but never as close as this. It was so strange looking

James raised his hand further up, then, still shaking terribly, placed it on the panthers shoulder, and patted the beast.

He purred, the creature had placed its paw on his side and did something, it felt nice.

James couldn't believe it, the panther, who a minute ago was about to rip his head off, was purring, actually purring!

"G-good b-boy," he said stuttering, reaching up to pat his head cautiously.

The creature was making noises again, but this one sounded reassuring, not panicky like when he had been hunting it. He nudged the paw with his head to say 'do it again'.

James chuckled, he must be delirious. He's already dead and this is what he wished it had been like instead. The panther, a vicious killer, was acting just like a common house cat! He was hysterical, giggling uncontrollably, he didn't even notice when tears streamed down his face. He pushed the seemingly gentle giant off and stood up, slightly wobbly.

The panther felt a pressure on his side and did what it meant for him to do; he stood up and got off the creature. He nudged its paw again when it stood up.

James thought for a minute, he'd better get this old guy back into his enclosure before he runs off, he patted the panther absent mindedly. So, leaning his weight on the panthers shoulder, they walked together over to the enclosure he had escaped from.

The panther let the creature lean on her, and he followed it in the direction that it wanted him to go. He liked the creature. He felt a connection with it that he didn't get with other animals.

A hot feeling began in the chest of the big cat. A glow began deep within and spread over his muscular form.

A dull green glow caught James' attention at his side. He couldn't believe it. Was the panther glowing? The longer he watched the brighter the glow became.

The creature had stopped walking. The black leopard wanted to look around but an unknown force had frozen its body.

A bang echoed around the area as the light grew blinding.

A scream tore its way from the mouth of the naked black haired man who stood in the place where the black panther had been seconds ago.

James couldn't believe it. It wasn't possible. Where had this stranger with emerald green eyes appeared from? The man turned around and opened his mouth to speak.

"Hello, my name is Harry Potter. Could you tell me where I am?" the stranger rasped.

James was unconscious before he could answer.

The End.