Disclaimer: Neither the world nor the characters belong to me. They are the property of J K Rowling, to whom I owe thanks for letting us use her creation to tell these alternate stories. The challenge belongs to whitetigerwolf, to whom I owe thanks for the idea that kick-started this story. I'll happily claim credit for the story itself, though.
Some Author's notes: Communication and language.
"Normal speech"; "Thoughts"; Lingua Felinarum; {Parseltongue}.
Chapter 21: Lessons of Living.
Ancient Runes was an incredible class, in Harry's opinion. The very concept that, by scribing the sometimes simple, sometimes intricate shapes onto a surface and pressing magic into them, you could craft almost anything magical, from flying brooms to wards, and set them to function indefinitely, appealed to him. It didn't hurt that he and Hermione had a certain knack for the subject, either. His amber-eyed mate dominated the theoretical side, striving to figure out why each rune had a certain effect, how the magic flowed through and interacted between each rune. His own talents lay more in the direction of practical application of those runes. Hermione was a little behind him in that area.
It was after the class had ended that the kitty couple were summoned to Dumbledore's office by a very much out-of-breath Colin Creevey, and hurried along the corridors. Uttering the gargoyle's password, 'Ice Mice', they swiftly found themselves the centre of attention in the chamber beyond.
That room contained, not just Dumbledore, but also Professors MacGonagall and Snape, Madam Pomfrey, Madam Bones (they recognised her from the will readings), as well as the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, the distressingly pink-clad Delores Umbridge and three aurors, none of whom were familiar. Of course, the toad-like witch had to take the worst possible course of action.
"There they are, aurors, take them into custody at once! The charge is destruction of Ministry property and treason!" she almost screamed. Following orders, the aurors acted, pulling their wands and moving, even as the three professors began to protest.
Of the people in the chamber, only Madam Poppy Pomfrey saw the first move on the felines' part. They split up, moving faster than the aurors did, drawing their own wands as they did so. Catching their antagonists off-guard by sheer dint of their speed, Harry yelled out "Aguamenti" mere fractions of a second before his mate called "Glisseo" in response, trapping the three highly trained enforcement wizards in what could pass for a small iceberg.
The ashen face of Minister Fudge indicated the outcome to have been unexpected. The feline children had just used co-ordinated second-year spells to immobilise three men twice their age, and more experienced to boot. He'd discounted the exaggerations and rumours he'd heard of their first and second year activities, no way were they possible, but now he had evidence of just how fast they were. The trapped aurors couldn't wave their wands, which were also trapped in the ice, and they were unable to speak without badly stuttering from the cold, which would be bad for incanting spells. They were in no real danger, either, as their heads remained free of the ice.
To say Madam Bones was incensed would have been an understatement on the level of calling the Grand Canyon 'a wee little hole in the ground'. Her first words were delivered in a chilling tone of voice that made the three aurors feel like their current position was positively tropical by comparison. "First, Delores, you have no authority to order my aurors around as if they were your personal army," she almost hissed. "Second, these two are here to assist in my investigation of this event, as well as why we have a 'kiss on sight' order for a man who never got a trial for the crime he was accused of. Hell, Malfoy and Lestrange got trials, why didn't Black?" The Minister looked a little redder than usual at this point. Turning to the two Duati Bast'et, Madam Bones again spoke.
"If you would excuse my aurors," she said, with a sidelong glance at the men in question, "who are obviously in need of a refresher course with Senior Auror Moody," at which point the trapped aurors began trembling even more than the ice would call for, "I would be grateful. I requested your presence to assist in my enquiries. Could you please tell me what happened when the dementors boarded the train?"
It was a good half-an-hour before they'd finished speaking, carefully editing out any mention of Remus Lupin's companion as anything other than a dog. The details were more than enough for the Head of The DMLE to hand down a decision. "Right," she said. "Since it is apparent we cannot trust the creatures anywhere near children, something that the 'wiser heads' within the Ministry insisted upon," a glare was directed at the pink horror that was Umbridge, "I'm having the dementors recalled to Azkaban. This will also serve to prevent the destruction of any others. If it's alright with the two of you, Harry, Hermione, I'd appreciate your assistance should any go rogue."
Harry answered her. "That's okay for now, Madam Bones, but you should find some way to replace them as guards. We're bound as Bast'et to hunt and destroy them, as they disrupt the barriers between Life and Death." The calm and matter-of-fact tone in which he said it, as well as the withered grey lump he was casually tossing from hand to hand, convinced her to keep a close eye on this one. If he didn't become an auror, hit wizard or unspeakable after Hogwarts, she'd be very surprised.
Returning her gaze once more to Umbridge, she stared for a few minutes. The pink-clad witch was building to a point where her temper would again explode. With an ease that spoke of long experience at winding up suspects, Madam Bones spoke just before the snapping of that fragile tether.
"Delores Umbridge, for attempting to arrest Duati Bast'et in the course of their duties, attempting interference in the workings of a case under investigation, and attempting to overturn succession of title for a Wizarding House, it gives me great satisfaction to announce your arrest."
Despite the Minister's protests, he was unable to convince Madam Bones to release Umbridge. The aurors, once defrosted, had been positively eager to obey the Head of the DMLE, and not just from fear of being charged or fired. All three were muggle-born, and had had quite enough of Umbridge's bigoted rantings.
The school was abuzz with the rumours surrounding what happened: the felines were arrested for being monsters (Draco came up with that one, saying his father would see to it); No, they were being condemned for killing a dementor; No, commended for it; They fought off a dozen aurors and escaped; They fought off a dozen aurors and stayed.
The only thing all the rumours had in common was their subject. A handful of them included some fragment of truth, overinflated until it seemed like the whole story. The Weasley twins were taking bets like crazy, but everything stopped when Ron and Luna both placed the same bet: Harry and Hermione had been ambushed, and caused the arrest of their ambusher. Hearing this from the two students who had been winning their bets consistently for the past year, Fred called "Last bet, hold your tickets", while George looked in his little red book to figure out the odds. Based on the kitty couple's prior activities, that one was an even bet.
When the announcement of the woman's arrest hit the Daily Prophet the next morning (neither feline had said a thing, nor had any of the staff, but Madam Pomfrey had seemed positively cheerful raising a glass with Snape, of all people, who not only returned the salute, but smiled as he did. Nearly three hundred students experienced a chill down their spines like never before. What was happening to the Great Bat Monster? Was it possible that he was, beneath it all, human?
Harry sorted through his mind, trying to recall exactly what his happiest memory was. Professor Lupin had decided that teaching the Patronus Charm was a very good idea, even if the dementors were being removed from the school. The central point was that although creatures like the dementors fed on 'happy thoughts', an incredibly indistinct term if you asked Hermione, the concentration of such required to form a Patronus was supposedly toxic to the monsters. Harry was still unconvinced.
A large portion of the class were able to produce a spray of silvery mist when called upon, although Draco Malfoy and his 'friends' were unable to manage even that much. It was a surprise to them all when Daphne Greengrass managed to produce a solid silvery king cobra, which wrapped itself protectively around her.
"Excellent work, Miss Greengrass," the professor said. "It takes a great deal of concentration and a pure happy memory to manage that. We call this the corporeal Patronus, and it requires more than just any old memory to invoke, it needs to be a memory of true joy. If it isn't being nosey, Miss Greengrass, what memory did you use?"
The girl that most students called the Ice Queen of Slytherin spoke. "When I first met my little sister, she looked me in the eyes and grabbed my finger, Professor. It was that moment that I realised here was someone who loved me unconditionally, without reservations. That is the memory I used."
Hermione looked straight at Harry, amber to emerald, as the realisation struck them both. If love were distance... she purred.
The universe isn't big enough, he responded, and replied, If love were time...
Eternity's not long enough, she finished. The two of them turned to the empty section of the classroom and almost roared, in unison, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
The class and the teacher watched in stunned amazement as two huge tigers of burning silver emerged from the kitty couple's wands and roared. As the incarnations of the kitty couple's happiness moved around the room at speed, without disturbing so much as single hair on anyone's head, there was silence. Once the tigers had stopped moving, they nuzzled, pressing their faces against each other, then faded away into a silvery flame that dwindled and vanished.
The silence continued for a few moments, broken only by the sounds of breathing as everyone tried to wrap their minds around what had happened. As one, they all turned to the felines who were holding each other close and purring like a thunderstorm. No-one needed to ask; it was obvious that their 'happy thoughts' were each other.
"W-well done," Professor Lupin said. "Twenty points each to those who've managed the corporeal Patronus, and five for the mist," he announced as the bells signalling the end of class rang out. As everyone departed, Padfoot emerged from beneath the desk, where he'd hidden as soon as the tigers had appeared. Looking down at his best friend, Remus Lupin nodded. "Yes, old friend, I need a good stiff drink, too."
Ron sat at the table in the Great Hall, listening as his best friends were the centre of attention. He'd had a moment or two when 'the green-eyed monster' (No, he firmly told his subconscious mind, not Harry) had tried to rise. Jealousy, he realised, was an ugly, immature thing for him to feel over something like this. It didn't stop him feeling it, but since his decision last year to expand his chess 'gift' to apply to other things, he was painfully aware of what such a thing could cost him. Yes, Harry had become a Bast'et to keep Hermione from being alone, and succeeded at that beyond his wildest dreams, but the price was that neither was entirely human anymore. Yes, they generally got better grades than he did, but honestly, he was the one not doing as much as they, and couldn't justly blame them for that (He could blame them, it simply wouldn't be just). So Ron Weasley set up his chessboard for a game... and Luna Lovegood sat down and started placing her white pieces opposite him. The craftsmanship of the pieces wasn't a professional job, as if she'd done them herself, but then, they didn't look like most chessmen, either. As she smiled at him, she spoke.
"The pawns are Nargles, the rooks are Wrackspurts, I've got Heliopaths for Bishops, a dragon for the Queen and the King is an Ent," she announced. "Ent's Nargle to e3." As the piece moved, Ron asked the question her statement seemed designed to provoke.
"So what are the Knights?" He could see how she had to answer.
"Crumple-horned Snorkacks, of course."
The game was a draw.
Remus looked around the DADA classroom. "I must admit," he said to Harry, "when you and Hermione said 'us', we didn't think to clarify exactly how many of 'us' you were talking about." If he was being honest, the kitty couple (a phrase of quite some popularity at Hogwarts, even among the staff) had probably intended it that way. Looking around at the small horde of friends, he chuckled. "I believe you pranked us quite well. Eager to be the next Marauders?"
The group consisted of Harry and Hermione (of course) as well as Ron, Neville and Ginny. It was the other two who'd surprised Remus. The daughter of Xenophilius Lovegood and the niece of Amelia Bones. When they'd insisted on the inclusion of their friends, he hadn't realised they'd crossed House lines. The only thing that could startle him more would be...
The knock on the door made everyone other than the felines jump. They just grinned like their Cheshire cousins as Remus called out. "Come in, it isn't locked." He amended his statement with a mental yet.
Daphne Greengrass was the last person he'd expected. "Potter," she said frostily as she approached them, "your owl dropped this on my bed, what in Merlin's name is going on?"
Hermione took the slightly crumpled piece of parchment. "Miss Greengrass. Come to the DADA classroom after dinner to learn something of great benefit. Tell only those you trust absolutely. Potter." Looking at the Slytherin girl, she smiled. "Seems perfectly straightforward to me. This little circle consists of our friends, and if you want to learn this 'something', you'll be making yourself one of us. Harry insisted, something about your Patronus memory touched him. Me, too, to be honest, but he more than I."
"What would I be learning?" the 'Ice Queen' asked. "If it's not worth the hassle of being your friend, I get to back out."
Harry answered her while everyone else was still thinking of their response to the black-haired girl's presence. "First secret: You'll learn of an innocent man's persecution. Second secret: You'll learn of a gift we plan to acquire, and acquire it yourself. Third secret: You don't have to be seen to be our friend, although we do need a little balance. We don't know any other Slytherins and we need one of you here to remind us you're not all bad."
Ron spoke up. "Harry, are you sure? She's a Slytherin, everyone knows you can't trust them." Even as he said it, Ron realised a major flaw in his premise, and held up his hand to forestall an argument. "Then again, everyone knows the Boy-who-lived took down eight dragons at the age of six, so what do I know? Sorry about that, knee-jerk reaction from knowing Malfoy."
Daphne smiled. "A person's smile really shouldn't make a man's blood freeze like that," Neville thought.
"Quite understandable, Mr Weasley," Daphne answered Ron. "Any time I spend in his odious presence makes my knee jerk, too." Every male in the room, including the dog, winced and sucked in air. "So, why did you offer this to me?"
Harry shrugged. "As Mai said, it was your Patronus memory. You got it from happiness at being loved. If you feel that happy just knowing your little sister loves you, you're likely to do anything it takes to keep her safe. With Malfoy around, we're the 'anything'. Other Slytherins might help, but he's in that House too. We're a circle of friends outside his influence. Somewhere to turn when you have to. What do you say?"
The Slytherin Ice Queen didn't even have to think about it. "I'm in."