[Notes, disclaimer and everything in chapter 1 – do read that]
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Harry smiled widely.
'I can't stay too long,' Draco declared.
'I'm sorry Hermione abducted me,' Harry said.
'I know. It's all right. She's your best friend,' Draco told him.
'She is, but you're becoming a friend, too,' Harry pointed out.
Draco smiled, moved closer to Harry and pecked his lips. Harry blushed a bit and smiled back.
Draco wondered what was going on when Harry flinched and grimaced, but then, the kitten reached Harry's shoulder after climbing along Harry's leg and back.
'Did it hurt you?' Draco asked.
'Sharp little claws, yea,' Harry hissed.
'May I help?' Draco asked.
Harry nodded, and Draco took the kitten from Harry's shoulder.
'You can cast a Healing spell now,' Draco said.
'I trust you to do it,' Harry declared.
Draco cast the spell, and Harry noticed his smile. 'What?' he inquired.
'You've got to be a Legilimens. Your Auror instinct kicked in the minute our new Minister gave you the job, and you wouldn't let me cast a spell on you if you didn't know for sure what's going on in my head,' Draco explained.
'Or I'm quick enough to hex you if you try something funny,' Harry countered him.
Draco smiled and shook his head.
The kitten meowed, demanding attention.
'You should call her Princess; I'm sure she'll be the boss of you before our date,' Draco joked.
'She's a "she"?' Harry said, clearly surprised.
'She's young, but I took the liberty to check, and she's definitely a female. You'll have to take her to a Vet-wizard in a few months if you don't want her to get eaten in the Forbidden Forest while looking for a mate,' he said.
'The owner of the pet shop told me my owl's a male, and I'd assumed that the kitten was one, too. I've got to interview the owner tomorrow, perhaps he'll know someone he can recommend,' Harry said.
'She's very cute, but I bet that she'll become a diva,' Draco predicted.
'My owl will help her behave like a lady,' Harry said.
His owl hooted, as if he understood, which made Harry smile.
'Lady, that might be a good name,' Harry said.
Draco didn't look too convinced.
'What? Too Muggle for you?' Harry asked.
'Why, Muggle?' Draco wondered, the reference lost on him. He waved his hand in dismissal and went on, 'It might be a nice name if you add something to it. She's calico, so the easy option would be Lady Calico, or something…'
'Calico?' Harry said.
'You can't really see it under the ton of dust, but yes, she is,' Draco answered. 'I can spell her clean if you want,' he added.
Harry nodded.
Draco looked at the kitten and addressed her, 'Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you.' Then, he cast a mild Cleaning spell that rid the tiny cat of all the grime that she'd got from Knockturn Alley, and that she'd been unable to get rid of.
'There, now she looks like a lady,' Draco said, handing Harry his kitten back.
Harry was blinking.
'What?' Draco asked.
'For a bloke who hexed me several times, you were astounding with her,' Harry explained honestly.
'I like cats,' Draco said, shrugging.
'Do you have cats?' Harry asked incredulously.
'We had a few. I hope they're all right. You know there are limits to magic, and not everybody can cast a Ministry spell on their books, like Pince can do here, and house-elves have their limits, too. There are a few precious books that we had to protect from mice,' Draco explained.
'I hope your cats are fine,' Harry said.
Draco gave him a small smile, and then he looked at Harry's new owl. 'He looks fierce,' he said.
'Perhaps I should call him Auror. He helped me today,' Harry said.
Draco huffed.
'Not good,' Harry stated.
'Not good enough, but he's not my owl. Too bad he's not a female…' Draco said, his voice trailing off.
The owl hooted softly, as if to encourage Draco to speak, and he flew from the windowsill to Harry's shoulder.
Harry grinned and, pointing at his owl, told Draco, 'What he said.'
Draco chuckled and said, 'Well, if you want something related to your job, the name of the Greek goddess of vengeance and justice means "retribution, or righteous anger".'
Harry and his owl traded looks; they liked the sound of that.
'For those who don't know mythology, what was her name?' Harry asked.
'Nemesis.'
The owl made an odd sound, as if to indicate that he liked it.
'Is this a name you'd like?' Harry asked the bird.
The owl made a sound that seemed to indicate that he liked the name.
'Nemesis, then?' Harry asked the bird again.
The owl nodded several times.
Harry looked at Draco and said, 'Thanks, it's a very good name.'
'You're welcome,' he almost whispered.
'How was your day?' Harry inquired.
Draco shrugged and said, 'Normal school day.'
Nemesis flew back to the windowsill and the kitten decided to try to follow, but she was too young to jump up there. Harry took Draco's hand and went to sit on the sofa with his friend.
'There's something on your mind,' Harry stated.
Draco sighed deeply, and the sound brought the attention of the kitten back to him, and she jumped onto his lap.
'Draco? Is there something wrong with your fellows?' Harry asked.
Draco intertwined his fingers with Harry's, and Harry feared that Draco was being bullied.
'It's not that,' Draco said.
'It's not about Saturday, because you wouldn't be here otherwise, or you'd be announcing your change of plan, so… What's on your mind?' Harry inquired.
'I had tea with my parents after class, and Father hinted that some people at the Ministry are working to send us to prison,' Draco explained.
'Voldemort might have won the war if your mother hadn't helped me!' Harry protested.
Draco squeezed Harry's hand and said, 'Now that you ended the war, we're fair targets.'
Harry growled, which prompted his kitten to hide inside Draco's robes.
'There's nothing you can do if they want to make an example of us,' Draco declared.
'They all abandoned me to fight an adult war. Now that I've saved their bacon, I'm not going to allow them to use you as scapegoats to cover their cowardice,' Harry growled. He saw that Draco was about to protest, so he went on, 'Look, years ago, your dad was ready to kill me because he's an arrogant prat, but when he realized that Voldemort might not win the war, I just bet that he didn't do a single illegal thing. Your mother was always busy protecting you two, and you… you were trying to find a way out.'
Draco caressed the kitten and didn't say a word.
'Look, I'd arrest you if you hadn't joined us in the last battle. I'll try to find out what's really going on,' Harry said.
'I didn't tell you for you to do something!' Draco protested.
'I know.'
Draco blinked and calmed down.
'If we want to build a better society, we've got to stop using scapegoats. We need a clean government, and I'll help Kingsley in the cleaning,' Harry explained.
'Thank you, Harry,' Draco said. 'You know, I don't know what I should do, or what I want to do in the future, but I don't want to be like my father,' he admitted.
'You know, when he listens to your mum, he's not that bad,' Harry pointed out.
Draco smiled and said, 'Thank you, Auror Potter.'
'Silly,' Harry said affectionately.
Draco looked at Harry and said, 'I should head back to my dorm.'
'I've got a bit of work to do, but if you want to borrow one of the books, you know and read it here, I can escort you back after curfew,' Harry said.
'Really?' Draco asked eagerly.
'No, I'm just bloody teasing you… Of course, I'll escort you back if you want to stay a bit. I'll even call an elf to go see Sev to warn him that you're with me. Okay?' Harry said.
Draco nodded fervently.
A message was sent to the Head of Slytherin, who wasn't worried about Mr Malfoy, at all, and the two young men relocated to Harry's bedroom.
Nemesis stayed where he was, but the kitten had decided that Draco was a good pillow and she followed them.
The two wizards merely wanted to enjoy not being alone. Draco borrowed one of Harry's books and settled on Harry's bed with the kitten on his lap, while Harry typed his reports for Kingsley and started a new file with useful spells for his work.
When Minerva knocked on the door, Harry was still typing spells, a book floating next to his laptop.
'Hey, Min!' he said joyfully.
'It's late, Harry. You're going to overwork yourself,' she told him.
Harry blinked, and he looked at the clock on his laptop; it was midnight.
'Hell! I was so absorbed that I didn't see the time. You should have told me,' Harry said turning towards Draco.
Draco was asleep, curled on Harry's bed, and the kitten was on his shoulder.
'I think he was in no shape to tell you,' Minerva pointed out.
'I warned Sev that Draco's here. Is it a problem if I let him sleep here, or should I escort him?' Harry asked.
'He'll sleep better in his own bed. I'll give him a safe-conduct,' Minerva said as she took a piece of parchment from her pocket.
She walked to the bed and woke Draco up.
'Time to head to your dorm, Mr Malfoy,' she said gently.
Draco got up and accepted the parchment. 'Thank you, Headmistress.'
'I'll keep you posted on my inquiry tomorrow after dinner, okay?' Harry told Draco, who nodded.
Minerva walked Draco to the door. In the corridor, Minerva spotted something odd; she counted on Draco to play along.
'Thank you for your help, Mr Malfoy,' she said.
Draco blinked once, but caught up and said, 'You're welcome, Headmistress. I'm happy I could help. I'll keep my head of house informed.'
Draco walked away, and once he'd turned left towards the stairs, Minerva took a good look around.
'Did you want to see me?' Minerva asked the student hiding in the shadows.
Ginevra took a step into the light; she looked shy and innocent, but Minerva wasn't fooled.
'I'm sorry, Headmistress. I wanted to see Harry, but I couldn't find enough courage to go knock on your door,' Ginevra said.
'Harry's already asleep, but I'll tell him that you wanted to see him. You must go back to your house now; I won't take house point this time, but respect the curfew, Miss Weasley,' Minerva said.
Ginevra smiled and said mildly, 'Thank you, Headmistress. Tell Harry I'd like to make peace with him.'
With a blinding fake smile, Minerva said, 'Don't worry, I'll tell him.'
Ginevra realized that Minerva was no fool, but there was nothing she could do, and she left.
Minerva went back to Harry's room.
'Problem?' Harry asked, as he powered his computer down.
'Ginevra was spying in the corridor. She doesn't suspect that Draco was here to see you. As well, when I caught her spying, she pretended that she wanted to see you and make peace,' she explained.
Harry sighed deeply. 'Thanks for the heads up, Min. She's a very real threat,' he said.
'I'm sorry,' she said softly.
'She made a choice when she sided with Ron against Hermione and Sev,' he pointed out.
'You'll have to be careful,' she added.
'Starting now,' Harry said.
He took his Marauder's Map and activated it.
'Where is she?' Minerva asked.
'In her dorm, and her mates are asleep. At least, I don't have to worry about her right now. I'll have to warn Draco that she's after him,' Harry said.
'I'll have him in my first class in the morning, I can tell him to be careful if you want,' she suggested.
'Yes, please,' Harry said.
She smiled and kissed his brow. 'Now, get some sleep,' she ordered.
'Yes, Min,' he answered, beaming.
'Besides, your kitten's feeling alone,' she added.
He smiled and said, 'My owl decided that Nemesis is a good name, but I'm still stuck for the kitten.'
'Your owl chose his name?' she said.
'Draco suggested it, and Nemesis made it clear that he likes it,' Harry said.
Minerva smiled widely and, looking at the kitten, said, 'I'm sure she'll make it known when you've found a name she likes.'
Harry nodded.
Minerva left him, and Harry quickly undressed with a spell. Before heading to bed, he went to check that Nemesis didn't need anything, and then he settled for the night. The kitten was sharing his pillow when he fell asleep.
Around six in the morning, sharp little claws on his nose woke Harry up.
He groaned and said, 'At your service, Milady.'
The kitten purred like a Muggle engine and licked her two-legged protector. Harry groaned again; he just knew that she liked that name.
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[Next part as soon as possible]