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 25: In the Forests of the Night...
The adoption of Harry Potter by Sirius Black was big news, and the Daily Prophet made the most of it, speculating on the many reasons why it might have happened. None even came close to the truth. By inducting the Marauders into the Chaos, Harry was showing them how much they meant to him. Almost unnoticed, in a tiny article on a page near the back, they ran the story of another escape from Azkaban, this time of two prisoners, by the names of Pettigrew and Umbridge...
The week leading up to Halloween was a trying time for the Chaotics, as Harry and Hermione became more... physically demonstrative than usual. It was somehow stronger than they'd thought it would be, and Remus installed two werewolf containment cages in the Chamber of Secrets, at Harry's request and with Daphne's assistance, as her cobra form was the only way to open the Chamber without the kitty couple. On the fateful day, after the feast, with Harry and Hermione almost yowling to each other, the felines confined themselves. The locks and the cages were strong enough to withstand a berserk werewolf, so the Chaos as a whole had faith their friends would be fine that night.
Daphne and Ginny entered the Chamber the next morning, to bring their feline friends up to breakfast, only to see the bars on the matching sides of each cage twisted and torn free of their brackets. As Ginny flared out to raise the alert with the other Chaotics, Daphne looked over the cages, finding only scraps of cloth that used to be Hogwarts robes.
Harry opened his eyes to sunlight, hearing and feeling the purring of the warm, fur-covered body before him, pressed against him in a most intimate manner, and barely had time to notice his own purring, as his mate rocked herself back against him, driving him deeper into both her and his own instincts, and the world went away in a wash of pleasure and warmth and black-furred wonder...
Their cries, roars of triumph and joy, spread throughout the Forbidden Forest, causing centaurs to pause in their daily business, and the acromantula colony to shiver in their collective webs. It was heard in the Black Lake, far beneath the surface where the merfolk dwelt, and in the castle where Severus Snape started awake from a sound slumber, and Pakhet, the kneazle kitten who stayed with 'Aunt Minnie' the previous night, sighed happily. Mama and Papa must be so happy now, she purred to no-one in particular, and she wandered down to the front doors of the castle.
The Chaotics heard the noise, and went to find their friends, although Ginny flared to and from Gryffindor Tower to get some new robes for the kitty couple, their previous pair having been shredded. As they entered the forest, with Hagrid's guidance, they heard the roars again, and before anyone could do or say anything Ginny had flared ahead. Only to return a few moments later, with her face rapidly becoming an even brighter red than the feathers that served her as hair.
"Umm, I... I don't think we need to go over there right, now," she blurted, flustered by what she had seen. "I don't think anything is going to, umm, interrupt their, er, personal time."
Daphne looked carefully at the twisted metal bar, one end badly scored by acid, magic and claws, and spoke idly. "I guess we need a stronger cage," she mused, and Professor Lupin nodded.
"Something that would hold a Gryffin, I think," he said by way of agreement. "So, do we draw straws or play scissors-paper-rock?"
"What? Why would we need to do that?" Ron asked as another roar rumbled over them instereo.
Remus Lupin smirked. "Someone has to go cast an aguamenti on them."
No-one wanted to be part of that, for some reason.
It was almost evening when an embarrassed, yet very satisfied, pair of felines made it back to the school doors, followed by their friends, who teased the kitty couple in a good-humoured manner. Greeted as they were by a concerned Minerva McGonagall and Poppy Pomfrey, as well as a blatantly unconcerned Pakhet, the two catfolk lashed their tails nervously, waiting for the talking-to they were certain they'd be receiving.
"Mr Potter," Professor McGonagall began, "I see you may need stronger precautions. Next time, please feel free to ask my assistance in such matters. You are my lions after all, I'm supposed to be looking out for you." As she turned to leave, they heard her muttering to herself, although it was doubtful anyone else, even within the Chaos could. "Such stamina the young have..."
Madam Pomfrey hustled Hermione off to the hospital wing, with harry in tow for a thorough check-up, and Pakhet clambered up 'Papa Harry's' robes to sling herself over his shoulder. Pity, she mewled.If it had taken, I could have been a big sister... Maybe next time...
It was just as well he fainted this close to the hospital wing, so Madam Pomfrey could treat his concussion more easily.
Draco Malfoy was making a list. Here, in the blistering chill of Durmstrang, he had found himself the bottom man on the ladder, and with no way to complain to his father, he'd had no way to command his 'lessers'. Crabbe and Goyle had not been expelled from Hogwarts, so he didn't even have physical guards any more, and it only took a few 'lessons, each resulting in a three day hospital stay, which didn't excuse him from schoolwork unless he was clinically unconscious, as pronounced by Healer Schwartzblut, for the Malfoy heir to get the message. Here, he wasn't someone's nemesis, he wasn't anywhere near the top of the class. In fact, he was irrelevant. He didn't matter. If he wanted something, he had to shudder earn it. Hence, his list of things he felt Potter had caused. The only problem was, away from his father's influence, he was actually forced to learn, to make his own decisions, to get by on his own merits. So, when the time came, should he try to kill Potter, or should he thank him?
Over the course of the next few months, the Chaos settled into a routine, if not exactly a predictable one. Each of them brought their own skills to the group, and with the adults around them, made firm their friendships with each other. Daphne in particular had more trouble than the others, as Pansy Parkinson did her level best to take over from the absent Draco Malfoy, even to having Crabbe and Goyle as her bodyguards now. The Greengrass heir was fortunate in her friends within Slytherin, as Tracey Davis and Blaise Zabini could see the benefits of having friends like Harry and the rest of the Chaos, and there was a fragile stalemate in the House of Snakes as a result.
Other developments were the burgeoning relationships of others, and on the Hogsmeade weekends, the kitty couple watched as Neville nervously requested Susan to join him. It was somewhat of a point of pride within the group that they didn't ever set foot inside the artificial, almost saccharine sickly-sweetness that was Madam Puddifoots, preferring the warm congeniality of the Three Broomsticks, or the private magic of a new coffee shop and tea house, run by a witch that Jacan Vaughn and his twin Drefan claimed as their big sister Morgan. The Cosy Cauldron was more interested in low-key and subtle comfort, rather than the forced romantic atmosphere of their competition.
With Ron in the castle playing wizard's chess against Luna, this left Ginny at somewhat of a loose end. She wished she had someone to love like Hermione had Harry, and recognized a fair amount of jealousy that the catgirl had the boy upon whom the red-headed witch had had a crush for the longest time. Yet Ginny was growing up. She came to the conclusion that not only was Hermione good for Harry, challenging him to better himself, but that Harry was also good for Hermione, gently bringing the feline witch out of a friendless shell and out where the others could appreciate her. But more often than not, this left the Luna-declared heliopath with no real company... except Daphne.
Christmas holidays arrived before any of them realized the time had passed so quickly, and the various families set out for home. Harry and Sirius had been invited to the Grangers' for the holidays, and it was on Christmas morning that Harry received the documents that made him Harry Potter-Black. It was a very tearful, yet overjoyed young man that hugged Sirius, and then Hermione hugged him as well.
Hermione was surprised when Harry asked everyone to the Grangers' back yard, where he nodded to Sirius. As the canine animagus used his wand to shift the snow into an ornate arch, Harry turned to his mate. Leading her beneath the arch, he began to speak.
"Mai, love," he began nervously, although he gained in confidence as he went on, "I know we're very young, but I've been listening to both my inner cat as well as my heart, and I know what I'm feeling... at last. I didn't recognise it for the longest time, because I hadn't really felt it since before that Halloween, long ago. I know I have your parents' blessing to do this, and I know that people will say we don't understand what we're doing, but I give you this ring in token of the ones I want to give you later, as a promise that, should you let me, I will ask you to be my bride." Looking up at Sirius and the Grangers, he received three nods as he lifted his wand before him. "I, Harry James Potter-Black of the Houses of those names, Duati Bast'et and wizard, do hereby pledge upon my magic that I will ask your hand in marriage once I am an adult, taking no other of my free will, in this life or any other. As I say, so mote it be."
The flare of golden light and the formal language inspired Hermione, she had to respond, and raising her wand, she spoke. "I, Hermione Jane Granger, Duati Bast'et and witch, do hereby pledge upon my magic to accept that proposal on the day you ask it, taking no other of my free will, in this life or any other. As I say, so mote it be."
This time the golden fare of magic was stronger, and formed a halo about the feline couple for the next hour, during which they were inseparable. Sirius, although he didn't show it, was a little worried at the extra words Harry had added to the promise oath, and Hermione's perfect, unscripted response was beyond anything he was ready to guess at. He really needed to talk to Moony...
In the murky depths of Knockturn Alley, two reluctant companions glared at their newly acquired paperwork. The man now had the identity of Klaus Siegel, a travel writer heading for the magical sites of Albania. He didn't much like Albania, but he'd liked Azkaban even less. His female counterpart, now going by Dolly Redford, was a part of the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad, or would be just long enough to get inside the Ministry and be keyed to control the Dementors. This was the price of their liberty, they'd been told by the masterminds behind their escape. Fail, and... well, it wouldn't be pretty. It might even give a Dementor nightmares...