He wasn't hiding, not really, more like...avoiding.
After all it was Christmas morning and he had no idea how to handle it. Normally he would be in the Gryffindor common room opening presents with Ron or anyone else unlucky enough to be stuck at the school over the holiday.
But that wasn't going to happen not only because he was stuck in Malfoy Manor, or because he was a cat, but because Ron apparently wasn't really his friend, and Dumbledore wanted him dead, which meant Harry would probably never return to Hogwarts.
His stomach clenched and he laid his head down on his paws.
He'd had 10 years of miserable Christmases and birthdays before he found out he was a wizard; he'd thought those days were behind him, instead it seemed things had in fact gotten worse.
He could feel his eyes water, as he thought about how lonely he was and how badly he missed being human, at least then he could run off and do something, anything to forget what day it was and what he had lost.
He shook his head; he wasn't really alone. He knew that. Fred had scratched and whined at Severus when the potion master had come to collect him the night before. His friend wanted to stay with him. However, Severus had growled at Fred and told him that it was impossible for George to fake being both of them on Christmas. There was no way Molly and Arthur wouldn't notice just one twin hanging around.
Harry had nudged Fred's cheek with his nose, telling his friend that it was okay. Fred had whined and licked Harry's nose before relaxing and letting Severus carry him off.
Draco had wandered in not long after and spent the rest of the night spelling balls and string around the room, to distract him.
He'd been grateful for the distraction, at least until this morning when he woke up cuddled next to the blonde, with Lucius sneaking into the room a box under his arm. The man had noticed Harry watching him and smiled at him, a soft happy smile, before he reached down and shook his son awake.
Both blondes seem to forget him as Draco opened the gift.
Not wanting to watch the happy moment Harry had jumped off the bed and ran until he found a small dark place to hide.
Which is how he ended up here.
He didn't know how long he'd been under the couch. But the house had gotten noisy as the people inside woke up and started celebrating and laughing.
So far, the only people to come into the library had been Bella and Barty. Bella had snuck in and took a small box out from behind a box, laughed loudly and then rushed out of the room. Harry had no idea what that was about, had sunk further under the couch hoping the crazy woman wouldn't see him.
Barty had come in shortly after. The dirty blonde Death Eater was mumbling about stupid games and the Lestrange's, he too started digging behind some of the books, before finding a box of his own. The man had opened it and pulled out a thin silver metal chain. Whatever it was, Barty seemed happy with it as he grinned brightly and put it back in the box, before wandering out of the library.
Despite the random guests, Harry was happy with his hiding spot. Or he was until his stomach reminded him that he had yet to eat and he was hungry.
He ignored it. He'd gone hungry before. It shouldn't have been a big deal.
Laying with his head on his paws, he tried to think of something other than Christmas and food.
It wasn't that hard.
He thought about his situation.
He knew Severus and the twins were close to turning him back human. He was grateful and couldn't wait...except for the fact, he had no idea what to do after.
He couldn't return home. His relatives would just send him back to Hogwarts to get rid of him. Which put him back in the hands of Dumbledore, who wanted him dead.
He wouldn't be able to stay at the Manor. Despite how Barty, Severus, and surprisingly Lucius had reacted to finding out who he was, he doubted he would be safe, feel safe, here once all the others knew who he was.
Sure, Voldemort had said he didn't want him dead anymore, but Harry wasn't sure how he felt about that. The man had seemed genuine about his belief that it was the truth and that Harry wouldn't believe him. Which led Harry to wanting to believe him, but years of having the man out to kill him, made it hard.
His stomach growled. Harry hissed at it, wanting it to shut up.
Maybe he could stay with the twins. He knew they would offer. Fred and George always wanted to help him. But he wasn't sure he wanted to put them in the middle of all this. Fred already had risked so much, coming into the Manor to see him.
Harry had been so happy to see his friend, that he let himself play and have fun. But there was always the nagging feeling in the back of his mind about what could happen if someone, other than Draco and Severus found out about Fred. He was almost relieved when Severus had carried the fox off. Not because he wanted to be alone but because Fred was no longer in danger.
He sighed.
Going back to the Dursleys was out, so was Hogwarts, Sirius, the Twins, or staying here.
He was almost tempted to just stay this way. At least as a cat he was safe.
His stomach growled again and again he hissed at it.
"What are you doing?"
Harry jumped, hitting his head on the top of the couch, before hissing at the man in front of him.
Somehow, he had missed Bastan coming in, now the man was on his knees, his head almost on the floor as he looked under the couch.
"You have any idea how insane Draco is going looking for you?" the man asked, reaching his hand out to grab him. Harry thought about growling and clawing at the man's hand. But if Draco was looking for him, then all it would do was buy him a couple minutes for the man to tell the blonde where he was.
The man was gentle as he wrapped a hand around the back of Harry's neck and pulled him out from under the couch.
Bastan pulled Harry close against his chest and started petting him on the top of his head. Harry let himself take comfort in it, dropping his head on the man's arm he closed his eyes. He didn't sleep, just relaxed.
Then he groaned as his stomach made itself heard, again. The Death Eater holding him chuckled, "Seems someone missed more than just lunch."
Lunch? Fuck, no wonder he was hungry. He'd skipped both breakfast and lunch.
They ended up in the main gathering room. The normally dreary and cold room was cheerful as bright as candles and ribbons now decorated the room.
Instead of a Christmas tree like he would have seen at his relative's house, he saw three couches all facing a lit fireplace. He almost couldn't look away from the flames, as they burned brilliant purple and gold. He'd never seen anything like it before and he found it beautiful.
Bastan wasted no time, walking into the room and dropping Harry into Draco's waiting arms. The blonde let out a relieved breath and shifted Harry until he could lay on his lap.
It was only then that Harry noticed that unlike the adults, apart from Barty, Draco was seated on the floor, his back resting against the couch, next to his father's legs, across from him Barty was in a similar position at Voldemort's.
It seemed odd to him, Draco sitting on the floor when surrounded by his family, and the Dark Lord, yet no one else seemed to find it out of place. Harry knew that the Malfoy's weren't as uptight as he had originally thought, but still, Draco looked perfectly comfortable sitting on the stone floor, in fact so did Barty. Harry shook his head, he was never going to understand these people.
The group, or family as Harry knew that's how they saw each other, was talking and laughing with each other, and despite how lonely it made Harry feel. He found he wasn't as bothered by it as he thought he would have been. Draco's fingers soon found their way into Harry's fur, and Harry felt himself melt.
He'd almost forgotten he was hungry until his stomach grumbled unhappy. Bastan of course laughed again, causing his brother to smack him upside the head. Draco ignored the brothers and called for a house elf, ordering the small creature to bring something for Harry to eat.
When the elf returned with a bowl of tuna, Harry licked the blonde's hand in thanks. Draco made a disgusted noise and shifted his hand away from Harry. In a better mood than he had been while hiding under the couch, Harry found himself feeling playful, so he stretched out his neck and licked the hand again. The hand was ripped away from him and held up where he could reach.
When he turned his head to look at the Slytherin, he found the blonde glaring at him. Harry stuck his tongue out, and then crawled off Draco's lap. He quickly devoured the small bowl of tuna, while the others started unwrapping gifts. When he turned to head back to Draco, he noticed a small pile set off to the side. Not sure why the blonde would wait to open them, Harry walked over and started investigating them.
Only when he did, he found names tags that said, kitty, kitten, Mischief, and brat. He let out a confused whine. Instead of Draco, it was Barty that appeared at his side. The man picked him up and then sat down next to the pile of presents.
Confused Harry watched as Barty opened a large box shaped one. Inside was an insane amount of green yarn. Not just one shade of green either, but a variety of colors from dark forest to an almost fluorescent. Barty snorted and pulled one bundle out of the box and waved it in front of Harry.
"What do you think, kitty, green your color?" Harry was too lost in the realization that they had bought him gifts, to respond.
He couldn't believe they had gotten him presents.
His own family hadn't ever gotten him anything, the only people who ever sent him anything for Christmas (or his birthday) were the Weasleys, and now he wasn't sure about the intentions behind those anymore, except for the twins.
For some reasons, these people, these dark wizards, Death Eaters, his supposed enemies, whatever the hell other's wanted to call them, had gotten him gifts. He was a bloody cat, and they still took the time to find something for him.
"Kitty?" Barty whispered.
Harry stopped staring at the yarn. He turned to look at the man, who looked worried. Not wanting anyone to notice the awkward moment, Harry meowed and jumped into the box, knocking it out of Barty's hands and onto the floor. He barely felt the impact, thanks to the soft, fuzzy yarn he was now covered in.
He heard laughter from the others in the room, and wiggled and fought his way free enough to stick his head out of his box. Barty was still seated where he had been, thankfully instead of the worried look he'd had a second ago, the man was grinning and laughing. As where the others in the room.
Harry would have blushed if he'd been human, instead he dropped back into his box and hid amongst the yarn.
It took several minutes for the laughter to die off and then Harry's box was flipped on his side and he rolled out onto the floor. Barty smiling down at him, "Not done yet kitty." the man teased before picking him up and placing him back on his lap.
Somehow Harry spent the next half hour, watching Draco and Barty open his gifts. The two seemed to be having the time of their lives opening the presents, showing them to Harry, who tried to play with more than one. The only one he had hissed at was Severus's, who had bought him a bright red collar, a gold tag with the name Brat etched into it.
He'd glared at it. He might have found it funny. The color chosen and the name. He after all had gotten to know the man well enough to know it was a joke, but both Malfoys' looked far too amused. And that had made him nervous. Which turned out to be the right response because Lucious quickly started that they should put it on him, to which Draco had no issues with attempting to do so.
Harry had whined and growled at his friend, not wanting to wear the collar. But it did nothing to stop the stupid Slytherin. And unfortunately, Harry soon found himself collared. Thankfully the red leather was ridiculously soft and it must have been charmed because it was light weight and he only truly noticed it when he moved and the tag clinked.
Despite not hating it, Harry promised himself he would get back at the potions master as soon as possible.
Later that night, he was sprawled out on Draco's bed, while the other teen was off with his parents, when Severus entered the room, an excited fox in his arms.
Harry jumped up happy to see his friend again. He rushed to the end of the bed, ready to lunge at Fred, when the smell instead of mint he caught the scent of fresh rain hit him.
George!
