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2. Catching a Bird
~o~
Hermione trotted into the garden. She really didn't want to kill a bird, though Draco was watching her every move from the hallway of the Manor.
'Bloody boys and their killing! Does he think because I'm a cat I automatically like to kill?'
Hermione arched her back and licked at her neck, to clear it of any fluff.
'Well, let him think I'll kill a bird, I shan't!' she thought defiantly, then snuck behind a bush and transformed into her human form. She examined her bare legs and arms, which were barely covered by the horribly outdated, green dress Draco gave her. Honestly, it was like Draco had given her the most Slytherin type of dress—knowing she was Gryffindor and it would annoy her to no end.
Hermione pulled her long, wavy brown hair back and tucked it behind her ears, while she watched Draco from far away through the leaves.
It was rotten luck being the animagus pet of Draco Malfoy. However, at any moment, he could threaten to send her to Voldemort or the Death Eaters, so there was not much she could do to escape.
At times, she could swear Draco almost cared for her, especially when she was back in her human form. Although Draco tended to deny and hide it if she ever confronted him on it.
She asked him one time, when she was in her human-form, if he liked her. Draco had only laughed and told her, 'Stop being ridiculous. You're just a pet to me, whether in human or cat form.' He then had ordered her to stay in her cat form for the rest of the week and not talk to him.
'Touchy,' she'd said.
That had just made him snap. 'I want you to act like a real cat and don't talk to me at all,' Draco had said moodily. And then he'd refused to so much as pick her up or let her sit in his lap. That little argument had happened a whole month ago.
Yet there were other times when he could be so affectionate and open with her. When she was in her cat-form, Draco would sometimes stroke her long, fluffy fur for hours while telling her everything that was on his mind and how he was pressured by his parents to be a Death Eater. It was as if in those moments, he trusted her more than anyone, and she loved listening to him. The more she listened to Draco's fears and vulnerabilities, the more she realized Draco was just as human and flawed as she was—except that Draco had been born into pureblood parents while she had muggle parents.
In the end, perhaps if she'd been born in this lonely, old Manor with so much pressure put upon her to carry on ancient traditions...well perhaps she would've ended up the same: spoiled, haughty and mistrustful of muggles.
Hermione smirked to herself. It was not like Draco had ever seen a muggle in this neighbourhood or in most of his life til he went to Hogwarts and met muggleborns. Or Diagon Alley, and saw her parents.
Yet he couldn't still hate muggleborns now, could he? Otherwise, why was he so possessive of her and refused to let her go? Hermione had a feeling that Draco wouldn't even let Voldemort himself, or his father, take her away from him. (Goodness knows, his father was not a fan of her and would've freaked out knowing he was harbouring a muggleborn under his roof.)
She'd even see Draco fighting a few times with his father to keep his 'cat'.
Sometimes she got the feeling that Draco only wanted him for himself, and would go to any ends to keep her.
The way he teased her and said she was 'his kitten and only his' which nobody could touch. He said these things when she was back in her human form and he was holding her hand and looking her in the eye. It was almost like he never wanted to let her go.
(And it scared her too, she realized, that even if he told her to go, she might not...because she'd miss him terribly...and then she'd wonder if anything more could've happened between them...)
~o~
'Kitten are you out there?'
Back in the grass, Hermione saw that Draco was growing worried and impatient waiting for her, so she transformed into a cat and went ruffling through the garden in search of a bird or feather.
Maybe if she just caught a feather, she could convince him that she had caught a bird and already eaten it.
Draco could be rather odd in his requests, yet she decided to respect each of his requests and demands he made of her—if only because of a sense of
duty and gratitude towards the man who saved her.
(Hermione smirked to himself. Well, Draco wasn't quite a man yet. He was nearing 17, but he was still very sixteen and rather boyish. Meanwhile, she was sixteen too but she'd already had two boyfriends and some idea of the way the world worked...While Draco still seemed very innocent...Hermione doubted he'd honestly done anything with Pansy beyond kissing her.)
Back in her cat-form, Hermione slinked through the grass and made sure to nod towards Draco to make sure he knew she was alright. He nodded back at her. Then she headed towards a tree and sprang up on it, because where else would she find a bird?
Hermione sniffed around the tree as she climbed higher and higher in the branches. She took some pleasure in the way her nails could dig deeply into the bark in a way her human-self could never do. Her lithe cat body could climb a tree so easily, while as a human if she ever tried to climb a tree, she would fall right back down on her sorry arse. Luckily, her cat nails were quite steady.
Hermione's face and eyes lit up when she spotted a little nest up ahead. She had no intention of hurting the birds of course, but if she could catch a few feathers and put them in her mouth, Draco might think she had caught one.
Stealthily, she approached the little nest, her paws flexing and prepared to latch onto the feathers she might find there.
Just as she was about to reach the nest, which was filled with eggs and feathers, a large, black mother bird came crashing down on her.
Hermione shrieked as the large, vicious crow snapped its beak at her. And then the next second, before she realized what was happening, Hermione was falling off the tree branch and hurtling towards the ground below.
She hit the ground with a loud smack and exhale of pain as the last bit of air escaped from her lungs. Faintly, she was aware that she had made several cat noises as she fell out of the tree before the impact of the fall had shocked her body into transforming back into human as she hit the grass-covered ground.
'HERMIONE ARE YOU ALRIGHT?' Draco came rushing towards her, shouting loudly. He didn't seem to even care anymore that she was in her human-form in the wide open where anyone could see her.
'Hmm-mmm.' Hermione moaned in pain. She felt certain she had cracked a few ribs. Her eyes watered up as she met Draco's soothing grey ones. He was hovering over her, a most worried expression on his face, almost as if he wanted to scream at himself for sending her out there.
'Don't worry, we'll take you up to my room and we'll fix you from there.' He tugged at her hand but she shook her head.
'Can't move, too much pain.' She bit her lip trying to hold back her tears. She didn't want Draco to see her so weak.
Draco brushed her stray hair from her forehead as if he were petting her though she was human now. He looked back over their shoulder to make sure no one was watching.
'I think I can carry you, no one is there. And if a house-elf sees us, I'll obliviate him.'
'You shouldn't obliviate house-elves,' Hermione managed to mutter despite her pain.
Draco smirked. 'Then they should mind their own business.'
'Draco,' Hermione warned. He knew perfectly well what her opinion on house-elves was.
'You're injured, now is no time to argue.' He was so tense and obviously worried about her that Hermione dared not bring up the issue of house-elves again. 'Put your arm around my neck, I'm going to carry you.'
She raised her uninjured arm and placed it around his neck. 'Good girl,' he whispered, then he lifted her up in a bridal position and quickly brought her in from the garden. Once they were in the cold, stone interior of Malfoy Manor, he took one of the smaller stone staircases up to the upper floor where his bedroom was.
Luckily, they managed to make it there without anyone spotting them. Hermione could only imagine how enranged his father would be if he caught him with a mudblood in his arms.
Once they were in his bedroom, Draco closed the door behind him and lay her softly on the bed.
'I'm going to get the medi-kit, hold on.' He rushed towards the door, then turned back once more. 'I'm sorry I made you catch that bird.'
Hermione rolled her eyes and managed to smirk through the pain. 'I'm sorry I listened. I should've plain ignored you and told you to bugger off and find a real cat to train.'
Draco smirked back at her. 'But I wouldn't want any other cat.' His hand reached for the silver ornate doorknob. 'Hold on kitten, I will heal you.'
Hermione wiped away a tear from her eye as she waited on his bed for Draco to bring back the healing potions.
~O~
a/n - please tell me if you'd like to read more ;) thanks
