Wow, I just put this story back up a few minutes ago and now I have new followers and a few returning readers. You guys are awesome! Here's the next chapter!
Kitty Love
Chapter 3
Harry started struggling even more as he was carried upstairs. No, No, NO! I don't want a bath. You can't make me! Harry bit Tom's finger hard and Tom immediately let him go. Unfortunately, he was dropped from five feet in the air and it nearly scared him to death as he saw the ground coming closer and closer. Thankfully he landed on his feet. Cats do land on their feet! Harry thought excitedly and took off down the hall.
"Oh no. Not again. I swear it's like you can understand me," Tom muttered and followed the dirty paw prints down the hallway. Fortunately Tom had closed all the doors this morning after Harry's earlier escapade. So he found Harry curled up in the corner of a dead end hallway.
Harry found himself trapped with nowhere to go, with a wall in front of him and Tom advancing on him from behind. So he tried a different tactic: begging. He put his ears back and looked up at Tom with wide green eyes. Please I don't want a bath. Find it in your heart and let me go. Please. Please!
"Don't give me that kitten. You need a bath," Tom said trying not to fall for the innocent look. He picked Harry up and carried him to his bedroom. Harry mewed pleadingly and nuzzled his head against Tom's hand.
"I don't want to do this any more than you do. But I need to get this stuff off of you." Harry started to lick his fur to show that he could clean himself. "No. Don't do that," Tom said stopping him, "Who knows what's on you."
Harry cried out in alarm as he saw the bathtub come into view and tried to crawl out of Tom's hands, latching onto Tom's shirt with his claws. No! Not there! Anywhere but there! Harry pleaded.
"Don't worry, little one. You're not going in there. I don't want you to drown."
You sure? Harry thought bitterly.
Tom chuckled softly and turned toward the sink. He turned on the sink, made sure it was warm and plugged up the sink so it would fill up halfway. Then went to work on getting Harry unlatched from his shirt. Harry shivered violently as he looked down at the water. It looked so…wet! He mewed again and clung tighter, but Tom pulled him off. "It's okay. The sooner you let me clean you the sooner you'll be done."
I still don't wanna, Harry thought stubbornly, but he was lowered to the water anyways. When his back legs hit the water, Harry cried out in alarm and jumped away from it, and sunk his claws into Tom's hand and arm. "Son of a…!" Tom exclaimed and bit his lip and tried to ignore the stinging pain. "No need to be frightened, kitten."
Easy for you to say. You're not about to be, dunked in water!
Tom took a deep breath and put Harry back into the water. Ignoring the mews of protest and the numerous new scratches that now adorned his arms and hands, Tom started to pour water over Harry's shivering form. After a while Harry stopped fighting, but he didn't like it any less. Tom lathered soap onto Harry and soon he was a mass of fur and bubbles. Harry purred slightly as Tom stroked his fur and made sure all of the slime was gone with his long talented fingers.
"See. It's not that bad," Tom said softly.
I guess. But only a little bit. I still hate it, He thought as he purred. He couldn't help it. Tom's fingers felt good against his fur.
"There! Now all I have to do is rinse you off." Tom said and unplugged the sink to let out all the soapy water, then turned on the sink. Harry let out a small mew of protest before he was put under the water. Tom put his hand over Harry's eyes as he rinsed off the rest of his fur, then turned off the water. "Okay. All done. Let me just get a towel." Tom said and stepped away from the sink, but kept an eye on him.
Harry shivered violently. I hate being wet. He shook and sent water flying everywhere, and then tried to climb out of the sink, but it was too slippery. Tom came back with a towel and scooped Harry back up and started drying him off. He purred gratefully, glad to be out of the water.
"Doesn't this seem familiar?" Tom asked as he cupped Harry's face in his hands and used the towel to dry it off. Harry purred in agreement. It was true. He had first met Tom when he had saved him yesterday from drowning and he had dried him off with a towel, just like he was doing now.
"There. All dry," Tom said and put him down on his bed before sitting down himself. "Don't you look clean?"
Harry turned away and started grooming his fur as Tom laid down on his back with a groan. Harry looked over at him and cocked his head to the side. "You certainly know how to keep me on my toes," Tom muttered, "You drive me absolutely crazy." Harry mewed softly and went back to grooming himself. Good. You need a good work out once in a while. Tom sat up slightly to watch him, "You know. I haven't named you yet."
Harry stopped mid lick, Name? What are you talking about? I already have a name.
"Hmm. Well you're a boy…"
Last time I checked, Harry thought dryly.
"So how about Chester?" Harry gave him an incredulous look. Are you out of your fucking mind? "No. I guess not. How about…Shadow?"
Harry tilted his head to the side; it was better than Chester, but no. He shook his head.
"No? I thought that was good, because you're black. But if not, then…Fluffy?"
Harry launched himself at Tom. There's no way in hell I'm going to be called Fluffy! He hissed at him and tried to scratch him. Tom laughed and grabbed the kitten before he would scratch him and held him up in the air.
"Okay. Okay. Not Fluffy." Harry glared at him and bit his finger. "Ow! Stop that! Now I know what to call you. I'll call you Harry. Because your such a pain in the ass."
Harry's eyes widened. I am not! He growled at him but didn't disagree with the name. "Okay then. It's set in stone. Your name is Harry." Tom said and sat him back down next to him. "And you do remind me of him; getting into everything and ruining it. Plus your eyes," he petted Harry's head, "They're green…like his."
Harry felt his face getting hot under his fur and looked away from Tom's face. He didn't know why that tiny little fact that Tom knew his eyes color made his stomach flutter. He put that aside to think upon later. He hated to admit it but, Tom wasn't that bad. But it doesn't mean anything. I still hate his guts! He thought firmly, He has a nice laugh though, Harry shook his head violently to get rid of the thought.
Beside him Tom yawned, "Your tiring," he muttered sleepily.
Yeah! Well…you're an asshole, Harry thought, but it didn't have its usual venom as his eyelids started getting droopy.
Within minutes he heard Tom's breathing even out. Harry carefully got up and walked up to where Tom's face was and stared at him. He looked so…human. Especially when he was sleeping. His black hair framed his face with little curls at the tips. Long black eyelashes fanned against pale skin. His original snake-like nose was now a normal one, and full pink lips below that. Except for his eyes, Tom looked so normal. Not the Dark Lord that he was supposed to be. He could walk down the street and no one would know that he was a mass murderer.
It was like they were two different people. The Dark Lord Voldemort who kills everyone in his path to taking over the wizarding world. And Tom Riddle who was a caring, good natured person. I mean, he was taking care of a cat for Merlin's sake! Voldemort would have let him drown.
Harry shook his head in confusion. Tom Riddle was Voldemort. Then why is he being so nice? And he was actually laughing earlier. Not the cold blooded 'You're going to die' laugh, but a real one. Harry stared at Tom's sleeping face like the answer was just going to appear. Why do you always confuse me?
As he stared at him, Harry found himself leaning toward him with his nose in the air. Tom's scent was divine! It was a musky wood like scent that made his senses go into overdrive. Harry caught himself and leaned back. Why the hell am I smelling him? He thought and turned away. He looked back at Tom and his stomach did a flip-flop. He turned away quickly again, It must be something I ate earlier. He confirmed and yawned, that's all it is, he curled up into a furry ball. There's no way…He fell asleep with that last thought.
xxx
When Harry woke up, he curled up into himself in pain. His stomach hurt! It felt like his whole body was on fire and that there was something inside his stomach, eating him from the inside out. Harry opened his eyes and his vision swam as he tried to get up. He shook his head to clear it, but it only made it worse. He had no idea what was wrong with him and he started to panic. In this unfamiliar body, he didn't know what to do. So he turned to the only person he could.
Harry walked forward, trying not to fall over, toward Tom, who was still sleeping. He mewed painfully to try to wake him up and butted his head against Tom's hand, but that didn't work. So, with effort, Harry jumped up onto Tom's chest (which was weird because it kept moving). Mewing along the way, Harry placed his front paws on Tom's face and moved them slightly to keep his balance.
Slowly Tom's eyes opened and he groaned, "What do you want now?"
My stomach hurts and I don't know why, Harry mewed painfully, sitting back on Tom's chest.
Tom looked into pain filled green orbs and frowned in concern. "What's wrong kitten?" he asked sitting up and catching Harry as he started to slide down his chest. Harry laid his ears back and quivered in his hand, mewing softly. "Are you not feeling well?" Harry rubbed against his hand in affirmative.
Tom gently stroked Harry's ears. "Shoot. It's probably those potions that dropped on you. I told you not to lick yourself." Tom sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "How am I supposed to figure out how to fix you?"
I don't know. But do something!
Tom ended up taking Harry down to his lab and started looking up the potions that had been in the box and tried making an antidote. Tom kept glancing at Harry's shivering form as he measured out ingredients. "Don't worry Harry. I'll get you better soon."
Hurry! Harry mewed as a particularly nasty spasm racked his body. He cried out in pain and fell over onto his side.
"Harry!" Tom cried out in alarm and raced over to him. "It's okay. It's almost done." He whispered and stroked Harry's stomach softly, trying to soothe him. Harry rolled onto his back and wrapped his front paws around Tom's wrist so he wouldn't stop. "Feel good?" Harry mewed in agreement and closed his eyes as the pain started ebbing away.
Tom started pulling his hand away and Harry mewed in protest. "I have to finish the antidote Harry." He said softly. Harry reluctantly let go and Tom went to finish the potion. He curled up into a ball as another wave of pain hit him. "Hold on little one." Tom said taking some of the potion out and coming over to him. He hesitated, "I'm guessing you can't drink it, so…" Tom picked Harry up and dipped his fingers into the potion and put them in Harry's mouth.
Yuck! That's disgusting! Harry thought and turned his head away.
"Come on Harry. You need to take it. You'll feel better." Harry hesitated then started licking his fingers. "Good." Tom dipped his fingers back into the potion and presented it back to Harry "Here's some more." Harry licked it off again.
This feels so wrong, Harry thought as he finished the potion. But I do feel better.
"There all done. Better?" Tom asked and started rubbing his stomach again. Harry purred in delight and tilted his head back to give Tom a silent thank you. Tom smiled, which made Harry's heart beat pick up. "I'm glad you're better. You scared me there for a minute."
Did I really? Harry thought sleepily. I didn't think anything would scare you, especially a sick kitten.
"Looks like your sleepy. It's probably the after effects." Harry mewed in agreement. "Just sleep Harry," Tom whispered.
Okay, Harry said nuzzling into Tom's shirt. I'll do just that. So he did.
Yay, kitty Harry is all better!
