THC

Ravenclaw, Potions

Drabble

Prompt: (creature) five-headed cat

WC: 923/1000

"What's in the box, Uncle Fab?" Fred and George asked in unison, trying to peek inside the medium-sized box in Fabian's hands.

"I brought this for you, but don't tell your mum," Fabian said conspiratorially. He gestured to the four-year-old twins to follow him outside, and they trailed after him like little redheaded puppies.

Oh, how he loved these two little shits. They were carbon copies of Gideon and him at this age, which may have contributed to his bias. Of course, he loved the other boys, but Fred and George were special. They were twins and they dealt in mischief—just like him and Gideon.

After he and his twin brother had survived the Death Eater attack and barely escaped with their lives, Fabian had realised that life was too short to spend it away from his family. He became a semi-permanent fixture in the Burrow, which both annoyed and endeared him to his older sister, Molly.

Speaking of Molly…Once they were at a safe distance from the house, Fabian knelt on the grass and placed the box in front of him. The twins gathered around, their blue eyes round, excited and full of wonder. Fabian made a show of looking around to make sure Molly wasn't around, and the twins mimicked him.

Finally, Fabian leaned in and whispered, "Are you two ready?"

"Yes, sir," Fred and George whisper-yelled, nearly bouncing on the spot.

"Close your eyes and don't peek." The twins scrunched their eyes shut and even covered them with their hands.

Pulling the lid off the box, Fabian carefully pulled out the sleeping kitten from within the folds and placed it on the grass. It sat up and yawned with all five mouths, stretching its little black-and-white legs out. Smacking its lips, it blinked its eyes open and peered up at Fabian.

Fabian grinned and said, "Alright, boys, open your eyes."

Fred and George lowered their hands and let out excited shrieks. They fell to their knees on either side of the five-headed cat and began petting each head aggressively. The kitten meowed as best as it could but didn't swat them away, even raising its chins to let the boys scratch underneath, so Fabian took it as a sign that it didn't mind the attention.

"It's got one, two, tree, four, five heads!" Fred squealed, counting each head by poking the kitten's foreheads.

"And they're so small!" George cried, sprawling on the ground to stare at the cat better. His eyes widened, and he began counting. "One, two, thwee, four, five, sees, seven, oeight, nine, ten—Look, Uncle Fab! It's got ten eyes! I only have two!"

"Me too!" Fred laughed and clapped, startling the kitten. It let out a high-pitched squeak and scrambled away from the twins. Fred cried, "No, come back! I'll be good!"

"Me too!" George wailed, leaping towards the kitten, which was now determined to escape.

Fabian chuckled and crouched to scoop up the kitten onto his hand. He cuddled it close to his chest, petting its back. It calmed down soon enough and stopped wriggling around, while Fred and George watched with rapt attention, their eyes wide and excited.

"I want to pet all its heads at once," George declared and then stared down at his two hands, a forlorn look in his eyes. He muttered, "Wish I had five hands."

Fabian pursed his lips to muffle his laughter. He pulled out his wand and conjured three more limbs for George. Two arms attached themselves to either side of George's bony shoulders, while the fifth stretched from the middle of his shoulder blades and over his head like a spider's leg.

"Wicked!" Laughing, George petted the kitten with all five hands.

"I want five hands too!" Fred wailed, and Fabian used the same spell on him too. Fred squealed and immediately began two thumb wars with his hands.

"Why's it got five heads, Uncle Fab?" George asked loudly and was promptly smacked on the head by Fred's free hand.

"You can't ask rude questions, Forgie," Fred exclaimed, staring at George with horror, his thumbs still wrestling. "The cat will be mad atchu!"

George pouted and clasped four of his hands in front of him, ducking his head and petting the cat with his fifth hand. "I'm sowwy, kitty."

"Tha's better," Fred stated before turning to Fabian. "Can we show Won?"

Fabian hesitated. Showing his two-year-old nephew a cat with five heads didn't seem like the right thing to do, especially when the twins themselves had five arms each. Fred and George were gazing up at him with their lower lips jutting out in adorable pouts and their blue eyes wide and hopeful. Fabian had always been a sucker for those baby blues, and so, with a heavy heart, he lowered the kitten into Fred's arms.

"Make sure you don't drop him and that Ron doesn't hurt the cat because he is scared," Fabian instructed, and the twins nodded before grinning and running away towards the house, their arms flapping about their torsos.

Fabian crossed his fingers and, hoping he wasn't making a huge mistake, walked briskly towards the Apparition point. Just before he could disappear, a high-pitched scream, which he distinctly recognised as Ron's, reverberated through the air, soon followed by the twins' howling cackles.

"Fabian Prewett! You absolute piece of shit!" Molly roared, running out of the house with a broom in hand and a red-faced, wailing Ron clinging to her bosom. "I'm going to kill you!"

Fabian took that as a cue to leave.