Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.
Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if that's you.
Author's Note: Despite the name, no kittens are harmed in this fic.
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: MC4A; House Competition (Term 4)
House: Hufflepuff
Role: Player (7th Year)
Category: Pre-Round Challenge
Prompt: Verity (Character)
Representation(s): Animal/Creature Rights; Werewolves; Murder; Humor; QPR; Rescue; Marauders; Lily Evans Potter
Bonus Challenges: Head of Perseus; Second Verse (Not a Lamp; Nontraditional; Found Family; Wabi Sabi; Middle Name; Tomorrow's Shade; Unwanted Advice; Some Beach; Lost Llama; Misshapen Pods; Mermaid; Toto's Tribute; Creature Feature; Esbat; Machismo - Compassion; Lovely Coconuts; Under the Bridge)
Word Count: 1399 words
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The Kitten Murder
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Remus had always found it freeing to run as a wolf. The feel of the soft woodland soil beneath his paws as he followed the traces of other animals settled him. Sirius was absolutely right about the emotional distance gained by embracing his inner beast. Despite what everything said about werewolves, unless Remus found himself trapped or threatened during a transformation, he had never felt any urge to attack anything.
Well, there was that one time when he had skipped both dinner and tea.
The hare probably had it coming, honestly. Twitchy noses clearly meant trouble.
Just look at Peter.
He may have felt guilty about the pleasure he derived from running loose through the forest, unchaperoned and unregistered, except that it was hard to deny himself one of the few pleasures he had. The war was taking a toll on all of them. The rest of their lives were not much better. Lily had just lost a second pregnancy. All of them were heart-sick over the loss. The entire McKinnon family had gone missing last week. No one knew if Death Eaters got them or if they decided to go into hiding. The Prewett twins were definitely taken down by Death Eaters, given just how many of them the twins took with them.
But those worries were human worries.
Overhead, thunder rumbled. Like a curtain falling, rain began falling. It created puddles that Remus splashed through with the same kind of puppy enthusiasm that Sirius was prone to showing when transformed. The steady beat of the drops hitting the leaves and dirt accompanied his run. Only his thick coat kept him from becoming soaked to the bone.
He circled the patch of woods, not caring that he was running in uneven circles. Eventually, he slowed to a ground-eating lope. His inner clock told him that moonset was nearing. He needed to circle back towards the little cottage where he stayed between Order missions. Following an impulse, he decided to take a path that had a section running alongside the nearest road.
It was risky, because if someone saw him, there would people combing the area for a wolf.
But the path also had the best place for a last sprint before reaching his cottage.
A sound from the picnic area near the road drew his attention as he passed it. Confused, he diverted to investigate. Someone had left a cardboard box like one that Muggles used to deliver apples near the trashcan stationed there. Due to the rain, it had begun splitting along the corners. The sound was coming from inside the box.
After checking for people, Remus shook himself and approached carefully. Huddled into one corner that did nothing to protect against the falling rain was a tiny and very soggy kitten. The moment it saw Remus peeking over the rim of the box, it pushed itself further into its corner and hissed at him. It wasn't intimidating in the least, but the shock still made him rear backwards to check again for people.
There was no one, and no sign that a person had been there recently.
Remus looked down at the kitten, who was still spitting out hisses. If the thing had been dry, its fur would likely have been puffed out. Remus didn't think that would have altered its appearance of tetchy one bit, but then the kitten was exceptionally tiny. It was likely the runt of its litter. His eyes as a wolf were horrible for telling colors (and the darkness didn't help) but he could tell that cat was a tabby of some sort, with a large splotch of white on one ear and another patch of white on the stub that passed as a tail.
The kitten shifted its stance and launched itself at his muzzle. Remus reared back just in time to avoid the razor-sharp claws aimed at him. Undeterred by its failure, the kitten turned to run at the sodden wall of the box. It twisted its body as it bounced off the cardboard, using the momentum to try again.
Remus was not telling Sirius about the undignified yelp he made when it raked its claws across his nose.
He would never live it down.
The kitten retreated back to its corner, still hissing viciously. Remus shook himself again. There was no other option. He had to brave the wrath of the tiny thing, risk of scratching or not. He certainly couldn't just leave the kitten out in the rain. The fact that it had survived this long in the cold night was nothing short of miraculous.
It still took three tries for Remus get a hold of the kitten's scruff.
Even then, the kitten kept kicking and trying to swipe at him.
He didn't even know that was possible. Weren't kittens supposed to freeze when picked up by the scruff? Remus couldn't spare much time to contemplate the contradiction. The way the kitten squirmed meant that it was a constant struggle to keep from either dropping the thing or holding tight enough to break skin. There was no information on whether lycanthropy was transmittable to animals but Remus didn't want to risk it more than he already was.
Uncharitably, Remus thought the kitten was vicious enough without being cursed.
Remus could feel the ache of his pending transformation by the time the lights of his cottage finally came into view. He could see the silhouette of someone moving around in the kitchen. Knowing that Sirius normally stopped by after his shift, especially on the nights of the full moon, Remus ignored the instinctive raising of his hackles at the presence of an invader and slipped through the open cellar door. He dropped the kitten onto the pallet of blankets he kept down there as a soft place to rest.
Not a moment too soon either, because the transformation was upon him before the little monster had even landed. The pain twisted its way through him as magic distorted his form before restoring his humanity. He could not hold back the howl that ripped its way from his throat.
It ended in a very human shout.
Then there was repeat of the undignified yelping from earlier as the kitten launched its tiny body at Remus while he was distracted. Only from a human, the sound was closer to a scream. Extracting the tiny claws from his naked chest was a rather delicate process that required all of Remus' attention.
Thus he didn't notice the person rushing down the stairs until he turned around with the squirming beast held by its scruff in one hand as far from his body as possible to protect himself from the still-swiping claws.
Lily had her hands over her mouth as she watched the scene with wide eyes.
Thankfully, he had enough sense to not follow through with the urge to cover himself with his own hands.
He didn't think for a single moment the kitten would have even an ounce of mercy.
They stood there staring at each other for a long moment before Lily finally lost the battle she was having with herself. She still didn't need to laugh quite so hard. It was uncalled for, really. The redhead was soon sporting a face that was just as red and gasping. Fortunately, the sound had attracted the attention of the beast in Remus' hand, making it stop its attempts to murder him.
"Oh, let me take the poor dear," Lily finally said when she had caught her breath. Remus let her take the kitten, who treacherously snuggled into her hold without any sign of viciousness. He sputtered indignantly as he heard it start purring. Lily waved a hand towards the trousers he had left folded on the foot of the pallet, reminding him of his nudity, before rubbing the kitten behind its white ear.
"Poor dear? Poor dear?! That thing is a murderous beast!"
The kitten only purred louder as it began to knead on Lily's blouse. A moment later, it was actively suckling on the cloth. By the time Remus had his trousers on fully, he was certain that Lily was fully enraptured by the thing. Her green eyes twinkled like James' did whenever he had a new idea for a prank. A cold shiver of fear slid down Remus' spine.
"I think 'murder' will be a wonderful name for her."