Harry

When he came to his senses he was on the floor, his body sore and shaking. He tried to lift his head but it was heavy. He whined and tried to move his body but everything hurt.

"This is not how I planned your death, Harry. You were going to die in a battle, instead, you will just disappear. Eventually declared dead. Tom will be blamed, of course. The people will flock to me to protect them. After all, I will be all they have left." He felt hands on the back of his neck and panic flooded him at how large the hands were. Something cold and stiff was locked around his neck and he could feel something in the front weighing it down.

Harry was picked up and he cried out from fear and pain.

He was tiny! Able to be lifted by one of the headmaster's hands. The man lifted Harry so he could see the headmaster's face.

Dumbledore was grinning gleefully. "Did you know that Tom has hidden himself away inside Malfoy Manor, Harry?" Harry hissed angrily, barely registering the sound, Dumbledore knew where he was? And wasn't telling anyone? Bastard.

"I think I'll send you to him as a gift. Of course, he will kill you as soon as he reads your little name tag." There was a chuckle, "Then once you are dead, the grieving wizarding world and the Ministry will beg for mine and the Order's help." Harry was carried over to the headmaster's desk, where the man opened a drawer and pulled out a small button.

"A gift from an old friend." The man muttered before he pressed the button against Harry's side. He didn't get a chance to cry out before he felt like he was being sucked through a straw.

Harry slammed into the ground hard enough for the air to be knocked out of his lungs.

He cried out. He wasn't sure how much more his body could take. Every part of him was throbbing and pulsing in sync with his frantic heartbeat, sending wave after wave of pain through him.

It took all his willpower to get to his feet, all four of them, and look around. It seemed whatever spell the headmaster had cast fixed his eyes as he was able to see the room around him. It was dark and damp, the cool stone floor and walls chilled him even through his new fur. Not to mention how creepy the place felt. Harry shivered.

He heard footsteps approaching and ducked under a nearby table. The tag on his collar, a freaking collar, clinked and he dropped down on his stomach, hoping to hide the sound. The man who entered thankfully didn't see him and Harry was able to relax a little, enough to think anyways.

He was in Malfoy Manor, he had to be. After what Dumbledore had said it was the only place he could be. Now he had to get this damned tag off before someone found him and read it.

Then, well then, he could hopefully sneak out before anyone saw him. After that, he had no idea what he was going to do.

He looked down at his paws and felt a little better at seeing tiny claws. At least he wasn't completely defenseless. It took him a few minutes to figure out how the claws worked. Getting them to come out and retreat when he willed. His paws took less effort and eventually he had a good idea how to move them correctly.

With that figured out, he stuck a claw into the leather collar and pushed in slowly. He carefully turned it until he found the clasp and then he started working at it. He had just gotten it open when he heard voices entering the room.

"What do you think it was?" A woman asked.

"Probably a stray dog or cat," a man replied. Harry's pulse quickened in fear, "animals wander in through the wards from time to time, Nagini usually catches them before they become a problem."

Fuck.

Harry had forgotten about Nagini, Voldemort's pet snake. He had to get out of here before he became her dinner. He waited until the two death eaters left the room before he finally removed the collar. He started at the green tag, Harry James Potter, it read in gold etchings. It made him want to rip the headmaster's head off; the man truly had sent him here to die.

He wasn't going to give Albus what he wanted. No way in hell, he would fight until he couldn't anymore.

He bit into the collar and dragged it out from under the table and over to a shelf. He carefully used his paws to shove it behind the , no one would find it. Then he moved away and started walking out of the room.

He was panting before he made it halfway. His chest hurt, his legs felt weak, and his head was pounding again. He had forgotten just how tired he was. He had been so full of adrenaline and focused on getting the collar off that the exhaustion had faded to the back of his mind. Now he wasn't sure if he could get out of this room, let alone the Manor and the property outside of it.

He whined.

"Well, what do we have here?" A smooth familiar voice asked. Harry was scooped up off the ground. He whined and then hissed when Lucius Malfoy's face came into view. The man raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"So you're the one that triggered the wards." Harry gave a hiss of discomfort as he was manhandled and turned upside down. "You seem underfed, kitten, malnourished by the showing of your ribs." The man hummed and then to Harry's utter shock, Lucius Malfoy —the proud and uptight pureblood— leaned in close and pressed an ear to Harry's ribs. Harry couldn't help but whine out from the jolt of pain he felt when the wizard touched him, "Your breathing is labored and you're clearly in pain."

"Piper!" The man called out suddenly causing Harry to wince. He pressed his head against the man's chest trying to hide from the sound. A gentle hand landed on his head and Malfoy's fingers began to move along his was strangely soothing and helped alleviate some of his pain. Figuring the man would have hexed him already if he was going to, Harry relaxed in the man's arms and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Lucius

Luc looked down at the neglected kitten in his arms. The small thing had fallen asleep but was still shaking. He sighed. Narcissa had always teased him about his soft spot for animals, but he couldn't leave this poor kitten to wander around the Manor for his Lord's snake to find.

A soft pop by his feet had him looking away from the kitten and at one of his house elves.

"Master called for Piper?" The small thing asked looking up at him.

"I need food and a bed suitable for a kitten." The house elf nodded and disappeared. He looked again at his small charge. He didn't think just food was going to be enough.

He ran the people living in the manor through his head, trying to think of who was best to ask. Severus of course was the first to come to mind, but his old friend was stuck at Hogwarts.

He groaned when he realized his next best option was either his Lord or Crouch.

Neither seemed like a good idea. HIs Lord, like his wife, would likely tease him or would or order him to put the poor creature out of its misery. Barty however, had a weakness for anything small, cute, or fluffy, Lucius just found the younger Death Eater annoying and tried to avoid him as much as possible. He sighed, Barty was his best option. He frowned as he started walking towards the younger Death Eater's room, was the kitten wheezing?

When Lucius knocked on Barty's bedroom door, he heard a thump from inside the room. He closed his eyes and took a deep spastic man on the other end had fallen off his bed.

"Comin'," Barty shouted, and a second later the door opened. Lucius had opened his eyes with the door and tried not to cringe when the dirty blonde greeted him.

"Ah Luc—" The younger man's eyes honed in on the small black bundle in his arms.

"Awww," he cooed and reached out to pet the kitten.

Luc smacked his hand away. "It's hurt," he said. He pushed past Barty and into the room.

Luc gently placed the kitten on the other man's bed, "I found him wandering in the gathering room. He was barely moving and cried out in pain when I moved him. I would normally ask Sev for potions—"

"But he isn't here." Barty finished for him.

"Exactly." He replied.

"I think—" Barty said before rushing off to his closet. Lucius watched not the least bit surprised when the other man pulled a trunk out and started going through it. After a couple of minutes Barty stood and handed him three potions.

"Blue is for pain, Green is nurishment, and Black should help if he has any infections. I would only give him that one if you noticed any inflamed injuries or trouble breathing. The little guy only needs a spoonful of each, let me know if you need more." Despite his normal avoidance of the younger man Luc was relieved and grateful for the help.

"Thank you." He said. Carefully he picked the cat back up and headed for the door.

"Wait!" Barty called out, with a sigh Luc stopped. A small box was shoved between his arm and body, he raised his eyebrow at Barty.

"Toys." The man said with a grin.

Luc did not roll his eyes though the urge was there. He simply nodded and left the room.

When he was finally in his room he placed the kitten on his bed and the bottles on his dresser. The small creature hadn't moved since it had fallen asleep. Luc wasn't sure if he should wake the poor thing up and give it some of the potions or wait until it woke up on its own. After a second he figured he could get ready for bed, hopefully by the time he was done, Piper would be back with food and bed. He could leave a small plate out for the kitten on the floor. He was a light sleeper and figured the kitten would let him know if it was in pain.