Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot. Thanks for reading, let me know if this idea interests you as I know it's weird.

A Heroic Deed

By the end of his first week at Hogwarts Teddy felt like he'd known Casper for years. The other teenager fit right in with his group, and Teddy was pretty sure that the only two individuals at Hogwarts he was close to who didn't like the boy were his and Allan's cats. Both felines avoided, hissed, or just made faces at Casper to the best of their feline abilities. Which was odd since Casper was making such an effort to win them over, but neither could be swayed even when bribed with the possibility of salmon. And Noir freaking loved salmon. Of course Noir also pretty much hated everybody, which he'd explained to Casper, but Allan's cat Siam was fairly even tempered and didn't seem to actively dislike anyone but Casper. It was just plain weird.

It didn't help either that every time he noted the cats treatment of Casper he kept hearing Hagrid in his head, talking about how animals were very sensitive, and often sensed badness in a person's heart before people did. But that was just batty, as Casper was a complete and total sweetheart who wouldn't hurt a bloody fly. As it was he'd had to step in a time or two when one of the school bullies had thought to try and lean on the little blond when they thought no one was around to stop them. So yeah, Hagrid's voice was doubly annoying because he knew that couldn't be it but he couldn't help thinking it either.

Even though Hagrid liked Casper too.

"Why the long face?"

Looking over in Allan's direction, Teddy's tone was wry as he stated that Allan would think him mental for thinking it.

"We're all a little mental, Teddy. Think how horribly boring we would all be if we weren't."

Laughing, Teddy had to agree with that, swiping a hand through his hair, which was turquoise today. "It's just…the way our cats behave around Casper. It would make absolute sense if just Noir was freaking out over him, but your cat is too. Do you think they sense something that we don't?"

"That's not mental to think about. It occurred to me too. But Casper…I really wish Siam would get along with him."

Seeing the blush that streaked across his best friend's cheeks, one of the major downsides of being a redhead, Teddy felt a clutch in his gut at the idea that Allan might fancy being more than friends with just Casper. Because, well, he sorta fancied the new exchange student too. He wasn't his normal type, not physically, anyway, but he was just so sweet and adorable and…and bros before hos as the Yanks put it, even if Casper wasn't a ho and technically he and Allan weren't brothers. If Casper showed an interest in Allan he'd just suck it up and expect his friend to do the same if he caught the other teenager's eye instead.

Or maybe just to be on the safe side he should just outright ask Allan what he thought and then if need be they could swear an oath not to date Casper regardless because no guy was worth their friendship. Right?

Opening his mouth to casually ask, Teddy ended up calling over to James and Seth instead, the two running past them and down the hallway at a rather dangerous speed, most likely late for class. "Oi, you two, watch where you're going or you're going to mow down some poor first year!"

Both James and Seth put on the brakes and turned to salute him cockily, the latter sending him a flirtatious grin that Teddy opted to ignore.

"Oi back, Teddy. Your cat's running too."

Looking in the direction the currently speed walking James was pointing towards, it took Teddy a few moments to even spot Noir, the cat was weaving in and out of people at a speed that was rather dizzying to watch. Teddy felt like he might get whiplash just trying to keep the furball in his sights.

Then Noir was coming to an actual skidding halt, the cat pawing at James's trouser pant leg insistently.

"Well that's weird." Seth stated as he looked down at the cat. "I thought you said the cat was psycho. Though then again, he is acting a little barmy, isn't he?"

"It is psycho. What does it want? Maybe it's rabid."

"Maybe Timmy's fallen down the well." Seth joked, explaining that it was a Muggle joke when James gave him a weird look, Teddy and Allan just as out to sea as they came up to join the two. On arrival Noir immediately switched to pawing and generally acting crazy in what seemed like a really strange attempt to get Teddy's attention now.

"What is up with you, huh?" Crouching down Teddy was about to pick the cat up when his unusually sensitive nose picked up a familiar scent. "Do any of you smell…blood?"

Feeling a sense of dread Teddy started running his hands over Noir's front legs, paling noticeable when his hands came away smeared with blood after making contact with the cat's paws. "You're hurt."

Taking advantage of the fact that Teddy had let his paws go in surprise Noir gave him a pointed look and then took off running back the way he'd come, though they all noticed when the black cat stopped to look back at them, glaring at them and jerking its head as if to say that they had better hurry up or else.

"I don't think he's the one who's hurt." Allan said slowly, his voice laced with a growing dread. "Not the way he's running on those paws."

All four boys coming to the most logical conclusion, which was that Noir had most likely stepped in blood somewhere, they looked at each other and remembering Noir's behavior took off running too, yelling at people to get out of their way as they started chasing after Teddy's cat. Most likely someone had spilled some bottled blood meant to be used in Potions, they tried to tell each other…but none of them believed it.

James caught up with Noir first, the boy scooping the cat up into his arms and then telling Noir to just point which way they needed to go. That that would get them to wherever the hell they were going faster. And that's just what Noir did, holding out either a left or right paw, or simply gesturing forward with a nod of his head. They went through seven hallways and then started down a short flight of stairs, James yelling for Teddy to send a Patronus requesting medical help ASAP, the Gryffindor the first to see the grisly sight that awaited them.

Trusting his godbrother Teddy stopped and turned to do exactly that while the other three quickly closed the gap between them and the crumpled, still body of a young girl, Allan's cat standing guard at her side.

)

Grateful when James set him down, though the Gryffindor could have been more gentle about it, Regulus joined Siam in moving out of the way as the three boys crowded in to check on the girl. For himself Regulus could see that her chest still rose and fell, though her breathing was even more raggedy, and Siam informed him, when he asked, that her heart beat was notably sluggish, though still beating which was the main thing. Approving when Allan took off his robes to put over her, though he was pretty sure the girl was already in shock anyway, Regulus asked the other cat if she'd woken up while he was gone.

"No. Completely unresponsive. I bit her and she didn't react at all." Siam looked over at him, his face and voice as cool and impassive as always. "You were fast."

They'd agreed that he should be the one to go for help, he knew the castle much better than Siam, and though his heart was beating hard Regulus felt like he might be in danger of heart trouble, he also had to admit that he was feeling good too. The girl wasn't from his house, she was from Gryffindor judging by the colors she wore, but it felt good to do something. To make a difference, after spending the week trying unsuccessfully to make Teddy wary of Casper. That Casper was currently numero uno in terms of being a suspect in this made it that much more important that he get through the Hufflepuff's thick skull.

As it was, the only reason they'd come down here in the first place was because Siam had been shadowing Casper at night and this was one of the places he'd seen their target visit. If memory served, and Regulus had always prided himself on having an excellent one, this particular area rarely had any foot traffic since it was used primarily for storage. Ergo the boy's interest in it had piqued their interest.

Perfect place to dump a body if one wanted to delay it being found, as opposed to disposing of it properly. Though the girl was still alive, not dead at this point. Hopefully, she'd stay that way.

"Any sign of what exactly was done to her?" He hadn't stuck around to examine the girl once they'd found her. Getting help had been more important.

"I don't know. The visible cuts on her body aren't nearly deep enough to do serious damage. I would guess torture, though not for very long. From the way the blood's dried she's been here since early morning. She's in a coma…it should be interesting to find out what she remembers if she lives. Of course if it was me I'd have either killed her or insured that her memories were either missing or too degraded for her to remember anything of use. But our prey isn't that smart, so perhaps we'll get lucky."

Siam was one cold blooded bastard, Regulus would give him that. Thank Merlin the arse was on his side.

Turning his attention back to the boys, Teddy having made the trio a quartet again, Regulus saw that all four of them had removed their robes and had laid her out on two of them to keep the chill of the stone floor from doing more damage than it already had. The other two robes were placed over her and James and Teddy were conjuring up bandages to wrap up the girl's arms and legs while Seth talked to her soothingly and Allan kept track of her vital signs. That they were all horrified at what they'd found was etched on their faces, but they weren't the sort to lose it in a crisis either.

Regulus approved, even if James was too much like his namesake, and the Ravenclaw boy was a Mudblood. They were being useful to Teddy and the girl at the moment, and that was what was important.

Finally the sound of pounding footsteps on the stone stairs reached all their ears, Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey soon rushing over, demanding to know who the girl was and what had happened.

"Her name's Essie Fawley. She's a third year in our house." Allan told their Headmistress before turning his attention the school's healer, rhyming off everything he knew about her injuries before joining the other boys in getting out of the way so that Pomfrey could do her thing.

"How did you find her here in the first place? You should all be in class right now!"

"It was the cat, Teddy's cat." Seth blurted out, pointing in said cat's direction for emphasis. "He came running up to James and I like something was very wrong, and then Teddy came over and saw that it had blood on its paws. We chased after it and it led us here. Allan's cat was with her too." He tacked on, having glanced in Regulus's direction and taken notice of Siam beside him.

"Thank Merlin they came down here for the mice." Not even wanting to think of what might have happened to the girl if the cats hadn't stumbled upon Miss. Fawley, or been intelligent enough to go for help, McGonagall informed the two cat owners that both felines would be handsomely rewarded at dinner tonight before she started grilling on them on how it had looked when the boys had arrived, everything they could remember, and everyone they'd passed in the hallway on the way here.

What went unsaid, but everyone was thinking, was that Essie hadn't had an unfortunately accident. This had been a very deliberate attack and someone in the castle was responsible for it.

"It's safe to move her." Pomfrey announced, getting to her feet with a grave look on her face. "We need to get her to St. Mungo as soon as possible, Minerva."

"Yes. Boys, take your cats and head back upstairs. You'll all need to clean up, I'll inform your teachers why you missed the current period. I'll expect you all to be in your next classes though, understand?"

All four nodded, knowing better than to argue.

)

The majority of the student body hadn't known or known much about Essie Fawley, but by the time supper rolled around everyone knew everything there was to know about the brown haired, blue eyed thirteen year old. She was the only child of Sullivan and Tulla Fawley, a quiet, average girl that had mostly faded into the background in her house and classes, but was liked well enough by those who did know her. The reason why anyone would attack her…that was the one question no one had an answer too. No one was taking credit for the attack, naturally, and there had been nothing left at the scene to implicate anyone. It was terrifying to think some crazy psycho was currently roaming the halls, and a great many of the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws gave the Slytherin table dark or fearful looks. After all…it had to be one of THEM, didn't it?

For their part the Slytherins glared back defiantly, though there were a few who looked fearful too, or stared down at their plates rather than meet anyone's hostile glare.

Regulus was offended on behalf of his house, and would have at least growled a little at the idiots at the Hufflepuff table if not for the fact that he'd been given half a salmon to eat as a reward for the part he'd played in helping out the Fawley girl. It wasn't polite to open one's mouth while one was eating after all.

The mood was definitely dark and depressed during the meal though, not even the fact that the non Slytherin houses had all received a good amount of points due to the heroics of the girl's human rescuers enough to cheer anyone up even a little. Fawley was in a coma, there was a crazy person loose in the castle, and no one had any idea who that someone was.

With Professor McGonagall's words of caution still ringing in their ears, hers was a voice that stayed with you the more commanding it was, all the students eventually made their way out of the Great Hall that night, no one walking alone on the way back to their dormitories. Even the loners were sticking close to other groups, no one wanting to be caught alone in any of the many hallways that made up Hogwarts.

Not having much of an appetite, not to mention the fact that he'd been harassed for details about what had happened since word had gotten out about the attack, Teddy escaped into his room as soon as he could with Noir, the cat purring away in his arms. Noir had really, really enjoyed all that salmon.

"And you earned it, Mate." Lowering his head Teddy pressed a firm kiss against the top of the cat's head, a little amused when the gesture had Noir tipping back his head a little to give him a considering look through narrowed eyes before dismissing him. That was Noir his cat for you.

Setting Noir on the bed Teddy left him there for the moment and turned his attention to undressing, not caring that it was still early to be turning in. He'd write a letter to his grandmother assuring him that he was just fine and would be very careful, and then turn in for the night. If he was lucky he'd be out for the count before his roommates stopped gossiping in the common room and came looking for him to go over it all once again. For what would feel like the millionth time.

Once dressed in loose trousers and an old T-shirt his grandmother was constantly telling him he needed to throw in the trash, Teddy turned back towards his bed, not at all surprised to see that Noir was curled up on the bedspread with his back very pointedly to him. Noir, after all, never watched him doing anything personal, especially if that something involved him shedding clothing. Not that he didn't appreciate the cat respecting his privacy so to speak…but it really was just one more thing that made Noir weird.

Smiling in Noir's direction, the cat having gotten to his feet now to watch him, Teddy retrieved his ink, quill, and some parchment before setting the items on his bedside table. That done he maneuvered the covers up enough that he could slide under them with his back pressed against his headboard, leaning over to retrieve his stuff and a book he'd been reading to use as a writing surface. In moments Noir was under the covers too, pressed up against Teddy's side with only the feline's head visible above the fabric.

Weirdest cat ever.

And giving his weird cat a good scratch behind the ears since Noir had earned it, Teddy made a mental note to inform his grandmother that people wouldn't currently be calling him a hero at the moment if not for Noir.

Who'd have thought it?