Harry

Harry snapped at the finger that poked him in the ribs. Annoyed at the rude wake up call, he hissed, without opening his eyes, hoping to be left alone so he could fall back asleep.

The finger returned, poking him harder than before. He hissed again, this time opening his eyes and hoping the glare he planned to give would scare off whoever was bothering him.

However the unimpressed look Snape gave him ruined his plans. Harry sighed and tried to stand up. His legs were numb from the way he had been laying and the second he stood up pins and needles shot through his limbs. He let out an unhappy whine and then almost fell off the lap he was on when he heard Voldemort chuckle.

Having no idea how he ended up sleeping on the Dark Lord's lap, Harry backed away. Thankfully Snape must have predicted the movement because before Harry could fall off the lap and onto the floor, he was caught. From the chuckles and laughs he heard around him, the Dark Lord and his followers were amused.

Harry growled at them, which turned into a yelp-like noise when Snape pulled him close and started for the door. Ignoring the laughter from behind them, Harry headbutted the man in the chest once before relaxing. The only reaction he got out of the professor was a snort.

"I have something for you to try," the man said as they entered his room. Harry was placed on the bed, where he could see Snape pull a small bag out of his pocket. "Your twins think this might temporarily give you back your body." Harry darted for the end of the bed, excited to finally be a person again.

"However," Snape said moving the bag up and away, "they believe it will be painful." Harry looked at the man to see worry etched onto his face.

Harry wanted to snap at the man, he could handle pain. He just wanted to be human again. He wanted to walk on two legs, talk, take a bloody shower. He licked his lips and opened his mouth. He heard the professor exhale before something soft and gummy like was pressed against his tongue.

Harry bit into hit and howled as lightning raced through him, before everything went spotty and he collapsed onto the bed beneath him.

"Fuck." he cursed as he started to wake up, it felt like he had fallen off his broom again.

"Well it seems to have worked." He heard Snape mutter from somewhere close by. In an instant Harry realized he had cursed out loud. He opened his eyes and rushed to sit up, the room spun a little but he didn't care. He held out his hands and grinned at seeing them.

"As much as I would like to let you enjoy the moment, Harry, I fear we don't have the time." Snape said, "what do you remember?" Harry sighed and lowered his hands. Looking toward the end of the bed, where the Professor was standing, arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his face.

"He called me into his office, I think he wanted to talk about Voldemort." He ignored Snape's flinch of the name, "But someone fire called him and he had to leave the room. The cabinet was open. I didn't mean to look but I felt pulled. Inside the pensieve had the memory I told you about." He swallowed his mouth suddenly feeling very dry. "I pulled out of it as fast as I could, but I didn't have time to close the door." He dropped his head, "He knew the second he saw my face."

"Was that when he changed you?" Snape asked in a low careful voice.

Harry shook his head and looked up at the man, "no he tried to wipe my memories." Snape's head tilted to the side, "it worked, for a couple minutes. But it hurt and I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Then they came back. The headmaster muttered something about Tom before he tied me up."

"Tom?" Snape asked moving closer to take Harry's chin. "As in the Dark Lord?" Harry nodded. He tried not to flinch when he felt the man's fingers tightened.

"I'm going to try something," the potions master said, "it will be uncomfortable but if you don't resist it won't hurt." Harry swallowed and did his best to relax.

He felt this push in his head. It felt intrusive and wrong and everything in him told him to stop it. When he tried, he heard Snape hiss and the fingers tightened on his chin. It took a lot of his will power to stop resisting whatever it was the other man was doing.

But after a couple seconds the professor's fingers loosened, "think about what happened," Snape whispered, and Harry couldn't not think about it. It felt like he had to obey and suddenly images and flashes of what happened in the headmaster's office zoomed through his mind. He wanted to pull away, make it stop, he didn't want to go through it again. But he didn't, instead he stared into Snape's black eyes.

When it was over the words, Mutatio Interiorem Bestia rang in his ears.

"What does it mean?" He asked after he felt the Professor had left his mind.

"It's an old incantation. It was once meant to help young witches and wizards find their animagus forms. If they had one. But it was cruel and painful. It was outlawed when easier gentle means were found."

"So this cat, it's my animagus form like Padfoot's dog?" He asked, not sure how he felt about that. He wanted to be an animagus but after being stuck as this cat against his will, he wasn't sure he would want to change into it willingly.

Snape shook his head, "Not exactly. It could be. But researchers found that the incantation forced the young wizards into a potential form. One that at that moment would keep them the safest. It was often something small and fast, giving them a chance to run or hide. It was one of the reasons it was so controversial. In many cases when the young witches or wizards finally achieved their true form it was not what had been forced upon them with the spell."

A little relieved Harry fell back on the bed. "The potion, it's what made it so I was stuck?" He asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"That would be my assumption." Snape said. "Now that I know the spell, it should be easier for me to find a counter for the potion." He knew the older man was trying to reassure him. But he also could feel this slight tingly starting in his fingers.

"I want to shower." He shouted suddenly jumping off the bed. He needed to do something to feel normal, before the spell wore off and he was stuck relying on others again.

Snape raised an eyebrow like he wanted to question the sudden outburst but then he smirked and pointed to the bathroom, "towels are in there."

Harry rushed into the bathroom, feeling a little unsteady on two feet. He turned the shower on, which was a stone shower with a tinted glass door, before he stirped out of his clothes. The clothes themselves smelled off. He almost let his mind wander down the path of how the hell that worked, before he shrugged and threw them on the floor.

The shower felt amazing. The hot water chased away some of the soreness in his muscles, and he felt more relaxed than he had in weeks. He didn't even care that he was using Snape's shampoo and soap as he washed off. He wanted to stay there forever, but that tingling sensation had spread into his arms and feet. He got the impression he wasn't going to be human much longer.

Mad, he turned off the water and exited the shower. On the counter was a pile of clothes that Harry knew belonged to the Professor. He felt grateful to the man as he dried off and changed into them.

Once dressed he walked into Snape's room. The man sat at his desk, a stack of books and parchment before him. He was scribbling something down and Harry watched a little amused as the man muttered to himself as he made his notes.

"Thank you." He said suddenly, causing the older man's head to snap up toward him. The man opened his mouth but Harry held up his hand, quieting him.

"Not just for this." He said, "but for all the times you saved my life. For trusting the twins. For-" He stopped, not sure about how to express this next part. "For my mum." Snape's eyes widened. "Sirius and Remus, they loved my parents but it was my dad they were close to. He was their best friend. They don't miss her like they missed him." He swallowed around the lump in his throat, "I felt like I was the only one who grieved her." He gave the man a sad smile, "but you did. And maybe when this is over you can tell me about her?" He asked the last bit before he could talk himself out of it.

"Harry," Snape started to stand, but two things happened simultaneously that stopped him. First was Harry crying out in pain as the twins' potion started to wear off and Snape's bedroom door slammed open.

Harry bit his lip, fighting back a scream as the pain flooded inside him. He was trying to figure out if he would be human long enough to stop Barty from hurting Snape or running off to his Lord.

The blond Death Eater stood in the doorway looking completely shocked. He kept looking from Harry to Snape like he was trying to understand what was going on.

Something inside Harry cracked and he couldn't hold back the whine that left his lips as his body once again shifted into a small black kitten.

"The hell?" He heard Barty whisper from closer than the man had been before. Harry looked up, his vision blurry as the man approached him. The Death Eater bent down and reached out for him but stopped when Snape called his name.

"Bartemius." The tone was cold and dangerous, Harry shivered.

Barty however looked unimpressed as he continued looking at Harry. "This solves a few riddles." The man muttered before his hand came close, but it never made contact as a shield formed between them.

"Severus." The blond said, turning to look at the Potion Master. "You know our Lord's been worried about you. He thought with Potter's disappearance and possible death, your faith in him was weavering." Harry whined worried about Snape.

"But that's not it, is it?" Barty said in a cheerful tone, "you knew where Potter was and were trying to what… help him?" the Death Eater looked back over his shoulder at Harry.

"He is trapped, correct?"

Harry tried to stand but his body still ached and he ended up falling on the floor again. Barty gave him a sad look.

"Correct." Snape answered slowly from behind them.

Harry wondered what the other man was thinking. He hoped he was trying to think of a way to talk himself out of this and not planning on killing Barty. Despite everything, Harry liked the dirty blonde and didn't want to be the reason he died.

"Was it Dumbledore?" Barty asked, looking back toward Snape.

"Yes."

Barrty hummed. "And the reason you haven't told our Lord?" Barty's tone lost the cheerfulness it had before as it turned cold and suspicious.

"I told our Lord that with the headmaster's betrayal he had a chance to gain Potter's trust. Despite the unusual circumstances, Potter being stuck as a feline has given him a chance to walk amongst us freely. No one attacking him or trying to persuade him. He has been living here for weeks now, seeing that we aren't what he has been told. If I had told our Lord that would have changed." Harry was impressed by the story, and wondered if any of it was true.

Harry held his breath as Barty turned and looked at him again. The man studied him, before reaching down time Snape didn't summon a shield and Harry whimpered as he was picked up.

"You wish for me to keep this a secret as well?" The blond asked, and even though he was still looking at Harry the question was aimed at Snape.

"For now." The man said, moving to stand next to Barty. Harry could see how unsure the Potion maker was. But when Barty turned to look at him it fell away.

"He's in pain." Barty said, glaring at Snape.

The change in topic was so sudden that Snape's eyes narrowed, "I'm aware."

He reached out for Harry. But it seemed Barty wasn't going to give him up. The man's hands tightened until Harry whimpered. Causing both men to look at him. Barty winced and relaxed his hold. Still he didn't give Harry back to Snape just moved to sit on the end of the other man's bed, Harry in his lap.

Harry could see how frustrated Snape was as the man walked across his room and grabbed a potion. Then he walked over with a small spoonful for Harry.

Not thrilled about the taste, Harry drank it as quickly as possible. When he started to feel better, he debated hoping off Barty's lap, but then the man started petting him and it felt nice enough that he laid down and drifted off to sleep.