House: Slytherin
Category: short
Prompt: [Speech] "I'll make better mistakes tomorrow."
Word count (excluding A/N): 657
A/N: Thank you Kristina and Ella for beta-ing!
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When Minerva stepped out of her classroom, a soft mreow greeted her. After a long-suffering sigh — for grading badly written papers was exhausting — she looked down to see Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, sitting on the ground before her. Mreow? the cat said, peering up at her with wide eyes.
"Sure," Minerva sighed, smiling indulgently. After shifting into her animagus form, she purred and began walking alongside Mrs. Norris. She had to patrol the castle tonight anyways, so why not do so as a tabby cat? After all, cats had sharper hearing and keener night vision. Together, the two cats prowled through the corridors, and as they patrolled, Minerva realized that she had been seeing quite a lot of Mrs. Norris. Every evening, in fact, no matter when she left her office, she always found Mrs. Norris waiting at her door. It was as though Mrs. Norris was escorting her around the castle. Suddenly rather perturbed, Minerva glanced at her mange-ridden companion. Why are you here? she meowed.
I like being with you, was Mrs. Norris' simple answer.
But why? Minerva pressed, her whiskers tingling as she stared at Mrs. Norris, who refused to meet her eyes. Why do you like me?
I just do. I don't know why. Mrs. Norris rubbed her front paw across her face in a gesture uncannily reminiscent of Argus Filch, and Minerva stilled. If Filch weren't a Squib, Mrs. Norris would certainly be his familiar; as it was, the two shared an extraordinarily close bond. Did Argus… have a crush on her?
How revolting. Minerva's tail bristled and she began racing away from Mrs. Norris, ignoring the feline's yowl of Where are you going? Stay with me! She had just turned the corner and escaped Mrs. Norris's company when a pair of gnarled hands picked her up.
"Now, what's this?" She was lifted high into the air, and Minerva thrashed, her claws drawing blood. Yet the man holding her — she knew it was a man — only swore and held her tighter. "Well, puss, you're far from where you're meant to be."
It was Argus. Argus Filch.
His yellow teeth grinned before her face; although she hissed up at him, he only laughed. "Oh no you don't," Argus said, tucking her under his arm. "You can't roam free in the castle." He patted her head, running his hands over her fur, and it was the last straw. Minerva transformed back to her human form in his hands, which may have been a mistake, because in her human form, his hands were rather... awkwardly placed. Surprisingly, though, while he staggered, he didn't drop her. He must have braced himself — had be been expecting the sudden weight of a human woman in his arms? Eyes narrowed, Minerva spat, "Unhand me, Argus."
"Sorry Minerva," he said, looking entirely unrepentant as he lowered her to the ground. "It was a mistake, honest! In the dark, I didn't recognize your animagus form."
Entirely unconvinced, she said nothing; however, gathering the shards of her dignity around her, she warned, "Just make sure that never happens again." Then she theatrically swept her cloak around her and strode away. When she could no longer see him, she transformed back into a cat, ready to stalk away on silent feet, but then she heard him whisper, "Do you think she's gone?"
Yes, Mrs. Norris purred.
"Then did you see that?" There was unholy glee in Argus' voice. "That wasn't an 'accident' — and I'll make better 'mistakes' tomorrow..."
Disgusted by his insinuations, Minerva hurried away, a new lesson plan already forming in her mind. She would teach him… when her students learned how to transform virtually anything into stinking, sticky slime and he came to her with complaints, she would retort it was only an "accident", then smile and say, "But don't worry, Argus — I'll make better mistakes tomorrow."