Disclaimer: JK's stuff ain't mine, and I don't own Disney. The Lucado family and Bagheera are in fact mine, all mine! Mwahahaha! … Ahem.
Ginny the cat prowled anxiously around her three foot square enclosure and meowled angrily. The shabby-looking tabby cat in the next cage was blinking at her sleepily, and she could see (and hear) a yowling Siamese in the one behind that.
I don't believe this. My own boyfriend gave me to an animal shelter as a stray! She scratched behind her ear impatiently. He is so gonna pay for this.
The door to the shelter opened, and she heard the jingle of a bell above the door as people entered. Kids chattered excitedly and flustered parents attempted unsuccessfully to calm them down as they clattered towards the desk, where she could see them through the open door. Two adults in their mid-twenties were accompanied by three noisy seven-year-old boys and one shy little four-year-old girl. They talked to the clerk at the desk for a couple of minutes, then she led them through to see the pets. The children pointed excitedly at a dog at the other end of the room, but the parents were vehemently against this, and kept insisting on a cat. The three boys, who on closer inspection proved to be identical triplets, were wiggling their fingers through the holes in the wire mesh of the tabby next to her. The little girl, holding a teddy and sucking her thumb, toddled along to her cage and peered at her curiously. Ginny stared back at her, very bored by now. The little girl took her thumb out of her mouth and banged her chubby little fist on the wire mesh of her cage. Ginny started and shot to the the back of the enclosure as the girl's parents noticed her enthusiasm. They cooed at Ginny for a moment or two, then started talking.
"She looks like a nice friendly type of cat," she heard the man say. "She'd make a nice companion for Baggie, and we might end up with kittens if they get on."
"I've always wanted a litter of kittens in the house," his wife replied.
"No! Leave me here, take the tabby!" she said, panicking, but they couldn't understand her. "Or the Siamese? Just don't pick me, I'm waiting for my boyfriend to realise I'm me!" she meowed angrily.
The clerk talked with the parents for a minute or so, the father handed over a couple of galleons, and the clerk opened the door to the cage. Before Ginny knew it, she had been transferred to a cramped red cat-carrier and the family had shoved her in the back-seat of a car.
She shifted uncomfortably in the small plastic space and meowled angrily. One of the triplets stuck a finger through a hole in the plastic grid and waggled it up and down.
Ginny nipped the fingertip, feeling very annoyed. The boy yelped and withdrew his finger.
"Mummy, the cat bit me!"
"Well don't annoy her then," his mother told him.
When they got to the family's house, Ginny was tipped unceremoniously from the cat-carrier into a kitty-litter tray by one of the triplets. She looked down at her new toilet and back up at the child.
"I am house-trained, you know!" The boy just patted her on the head and ran into the kitchen. Ginny stepped out of the tray, shaking kitty-litter from her paws. She stalked through to the living room and looked around. She took in the rich red walls, cream leather sofa and chairs, red-brick fireplace and ochre-coloured carpet, and then heard another voice, which didn't sound like either the parents' or the kids' voices.
"Hi there."
She turned around to see a jet-black cat sitting just behind her. "Hi."
"You're new."
"Uh, yeah." Duh, of course.
"Where'd they get you from? Pet shop?"
"Animal shelter."
"Cool." The other cat scratched behind his ear.
"Who are you?" she asked, when he showed no sign of saying anything else.
"Name's Samson, but the adults named me Bagheera," he told her. He said this as though it was classified information, but in a very sophisticated-sounding voice.
"The adults said you were called Baggie," Ginny said.
The other cat flinched. "The kids only call me that because they can't say my name properly. What's your name?"
"Ginny."
"Cool. Wonder what they've called you." Bagheera got up and stalked away into another room. Probably thinks he's playing hard to get, Ginny thought. Stupid git. What were those adults thinking? Kittens? With him? Never. Hopefully I won't be a cat long enough for him to even try, and if he does, I'll scratch his nose off!
Ginny held up a paw and licked it, before strolling over and jumping onto the couch.
"Bad kitty!" The little girl had just come into the room, dressed in a mini pink cotton dress with matching play-shoes and pink ribbons in her curly baby-blonde hair, and dragging a comfort blanket behind her. "No kitties on da couch!" She picked Ginny up roughly and dumped her on the floor. Ginny hissed and ran away from her, only to be picked up again by one of the triplets.
"Hello Ginger," he said softly, scratching her between the ears. Ginger? Well, not too far from Ginny, that's a good thing. "I'm Rupert. You're gonna be friends with Abbie, okay? Don't be nasty to her, she's only a little girl." Ginny wriggled until Rupert put her down. "Do you wanna see Alexander and James? They're in the kitchen."
"No, I don't want to see your brothers, I want to go home!" Ginny told him, but he smiled and went into the kitchen. He picked up his sandwich and the triplets ate side by side. It was a little creepy, because they were dressed in exactly the same clothes; blue corduroy dungarees and white t-shirts, with the same blonde hair and blue canvas shoes as well. Ginny was used to twins, but triplets added another identical person into the mix, and it was fairly strange seeing the synchronicity they seemed to do unconsciously. She cocked her head as she stared at them, then she noticed two plastic bowls sitting next to the washing machine. One was full of water, the other was full of some kind of light brown meaty chunks. She crept over cautiously and sniffed the second bowl. It did smell good to her cat senses, but her human self was recoiling in disgust.
Cat food? Someone help me! I am not going to eat that, it's disgusting. She sniffed the second bowl, then drank some of the water. It abated her thirst, and she was also a little intrigued as to how her tongue managed to lap up so much water in one go.
"Mummy, I don't think Ginger likes the cat food," said one of the triplets. She noticed that they each had shiny button-badges clipped to their dungarees, each showing the child's name. They were similar in design to the ones Draco and his friends used to manufacture as a way of putting Harry down before a Quidditch match, or that Triwizard tournament. Luckily, the two were friends now, but she couldn't say the same for Draco and her brother.
The boy who had spoken was Alexander, and all three boys finished the last bite of their sandwiches at the same time, then drank their milk in synchronised motions, which was even more creepy.
"Well, it's the only kind we've got, so she'll have to eat it," his mother replied.
"But I don't want it!" Ginny complained. "It's gross and disgusting! I want pasta. Or chips. I'm a vegetarian for goodness sake!"
"It's the only kind we've got, Ginger," James repeated solemnly.
"I'm a vegetarian!" she growled angrily. "And have been for eight years! Give me something I can eat!"
"She's not very happy, Mummy," said Rupert.
"I know, dear."
"Maybe she misses the animal shelter?" suggested Alexander.
"Maybe, honey."
Ginny stalked angrily out of the room, and viciously attacked a bright orange scratching post in the corner of the hall.
"Fun isn't it?" Ginny caught a glimpse of Bagheera from the corner of her eye, ignored him, and kept on scratching. "Mr and Mrs got it last week."
"Mr and Mrs?"
"The kids' parents." Ginny had seen Lady and the Tramp before, due to her friends' ties with the Muggle world, and Bagheera's names for the adults sounded a lot like the dog's names for her owners in the film; 'Jim Dear and Darling'. Plus, Bagheera's name was straight out of The Jungle Book. She wondered if this family was possibly part Muggle. By the strange plain way the mother dressed, she suspected she was the Muggle, and the father, with his normal flowing cloaky-type clothes, was the wizard. There was a television in the living room with a cabinet full of Disney videos next to it, but she could also see a broomstick propped next to the doorway and a pot of Floo Powder sitting on the mantel of the fireplace. Yep, definitely a Muggle-wizard house.
"What's their surname?" she asked.
"Surname?"
"Yeah, their last name." Bagheera looked confused, so Ginny attempted to explain. "You know, the name that comes after their first name. What's your second name?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Oh, look, it's Mr with your new collar," he announced.
"Hey Baggie," he said absent-mindedly as the cat trotted past him. Ginny noticed that Bagheera already had a collar; a pale blue one with a fish-shaped name tag hanging from it. It stood out quite plainly against his black fur. Ginny ran over to the door to look at an envelope that was lying on the mat. It was handwritten in loopy letters, addressed to a Max Lucado. That must be the father. Max picked up the envelope. "Thankyou Ginger," he said with a smile. "You're going to be our little letter-getter, are you?" He was blonde, like his kids, and had the same blue eyes as the triplets.
"Fat chance," Ginny told him.
"Well, good." Stupid man, thinks he understands what I'm saying... "Melody, I got a letter from my sister!" he called up the stairs.
"Great," came the mother's voice from upstairs.
Max and Melody Lucado. Those are okay names, I guess. She tried out the kids names with their last name in her head, and they sounded okay. But Bagheera Lucado? Does the surname apply to pets? And Ginger Lucado. Just sounds plain weird.
Max read the letter quickly, smiling, then folded it up and put it back in the envelope. He tucked it behind a picture-frame, and knelt down next to Ginny.
"I've got a new collar for you, Ginger," he said, as if it was a huge event. "It's red, look." Ginny looked. It was bright red, with a name-tag shaped like a cat's head, but it wasn't engraved yet. There was also a small silver bell attached to the collar. Max fastened the collar around Ginny's neck, and she moved her head about to make it sit comfortably. "There you go!"
"Ooh, wow, a collar. Big whoop."
"I'm glad you like it."
Maybe if I say positive stuff, they'll think I'm being negative... she wondered, as the family seemed to be interpreting her every word as the opposite. She scratched at the collar and the bell jingled. Bagheera doesn't have a bell, she thought sulkily. How come I have to have my presence announced? It would be a lot more practical on him. Warn me of any unwanted advances.
"Okay, now I'm hungry," she decided. "But what to eat? I could scrounge for table scraps, but the triplets finished their sandwiches already. I'll go see what else there is to eat."
"Why not just eat the cat food?" Bagheera asked. It was annoying when he just popped up like that, it was becoming a habit.
"I'm a vegetarian."
"What does that mean?"
"It means I don't eat meat."
Bagheera made a noise that sounded like the cat-equivalent of a gasp. "You mean you don't like cat food?" Ginny shook her head. "They just got us wet cat food too, it's better than the dry stuff. So you don't like mice?" Ginny shook her head again. "Not even birds?"
"Ew, no." She shuddered slightly. "I don't like eating animals."
"You're a very strange cat."
"I'm not a cat!"
"Yes you are."
"No, I'm not. I'm a person."
"Well, you look like a cat, and that's enough for me." He nuzzled her nose and rubbed the side of his face against hers.
"Get off," she snapped irritably, stepping back and running into the other room, jingling as she ran. Stupid cat, thinks he can mate outside his species, egotistic feline maniac -
Her inner rant was cut off by the little girl, Abbie, bending down and picking her up again.
"Get off me you stupid girl!" I must not bite the child, I must not bite the child, I must not bite the child, she repeated to herself to keep control.
"Kitty has to eat her dinna," Abbie announced loudly, and plonked Ginny down in front of her food bowl. Ginny looked at the cat food again, then up at Abbie, whose curly blonde hair was falling over her face. In other circumstances, Ginny would have found the little girl cute, but now she was just plain irritated with everyone.
She ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs, colliding with Melody Lucado in the upstairs hall.
"Hey there, Ginger, why are you in such a hurry?"
"It's Ginny! And because your kids are driving me crazy!"
"Hey, poor thing," she crooned, picking her up. She had darker hair, but curly like her daughter's. "No need to fuss. I know Abbie can be a little rough with you cats, but she doesn't mean any harm."
"Hmm. Did you just understand what I was saying?" Her reply had been eerily close to her original complaint.
"And the triplets are naturally noisy, so you just have to shut your little kitty ears and try to ignore them," Melody continued.
"Nope, guess not. At least you're not pretending to understand what I'm saying."
"Now, have you chosen your bed yet? You can share a bed with anyone you want. Baggie sleeps at the bottom of Abbie's bed, so maybe you want to sleep there, hm?"
"No! I am not sleeping anywhere near that stupid cat!"
"Okay, I take it from your protestation that you don't like Baggie very much," she said, chuckling. "Shame, I wanted kittens." This is possibly the broodiest mother in the entire world. She already had to take care of three babies at once, and now she wants kittens in the house? "So where are you going to sleep? You probably won't want to sleep with any of the triplets, they normally kick about in the night. You wanna sleep in our bed?"
She nodded at Melody.
"Hey, did you just nod? You're a very clever cat, aren't you? Okay, you can sleep at the foot of our bed."
"Good. At least I'll be away from Bagheera."
"You must be part Siamese, I've never known any other kind of cat to be so talkative," Melody said. "Now, where's my watch?" She put Ginny down on the floor, and went back into her bedroom. Ginny followed her, and immediately spied the watch underneath the dresser, hidden from the woman's sight. She wriggled underneath and pulled it out.
"Here you go," she said past the watch strap between her teeth.
"Hey, you found it!" Melody said. "Where was it?" Ginny went back to the dresser and pawed at the area beneath it. "Wow, you really are clever. You're even answering questions."
Ginny liked Melody, she seemed to treat her like a friend, even though she was new. Then again, I am a cat, she reminded herself. But it's almost like she understands what I say. But she doesn't. It's way too confusing. Maybe I can work out a way to tell her I'm really human. I'll work that out later... when I'm not so incredibly sleepy...
She sprang up onto the bed, which was higher than her own, and settled into the soft white sheets, yawning a little.
"Sleepy already, huh?" It's strange that I'm allowed on the bed but not on the couch. "Well you just nap there, I'll tell the kids not to wake you up." She scratched Ginny behind the ears, which made her purr involuntarily, and then she left the room.