Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Warnings: SLASH [Two men in a sexual relationship with each other. If you don't like it, LEAVE. Don't bitch at me or you'll be torn to shreds. Fuck Off. Tankies ] Violence, Mast., and I may add other warnings on later on.
Summary: An accident in potions class leads Harry down a road of new possibilities with people he wouldn't have expected to help, and a bit of a physical change...like being a cat.
Disclaimer: As much as I wish I were, I'm not J.K. Rowling, nor do I own anything of hers. -sighs- Any ideas that you see here that you think I took from someone else, please let me know so I can read their fiction and give them credit for having the idea first, but I did come up with the majority of it from my own demented mind, though different things...inspired me.
Light filtered through the curtains surrounding his bed curtrains. He had been an extremely light sleeper lately, and had trained himself to wake up early to get ready, and so no one else would bother him. He rose from his bed with a mild wince, before grabbing clean clothes and his toiletries. A few minutes later the bathroom was filled with stream and the smell of mangos and kiwis, the scent of his soap and shampoo. Soon the shower turned off and he walked out with a towel secured around his waist. He ran a hand throw his dripping hair as he looked into the mirror with a resigned sigh. He was emaciated, his ribs, collar, and pelvis bones showing easily. His left wrist was swollen from a break that he had been unable to heal completely, his right ankle wasn't much better. His entire body was covered with bruises, and he was almost positive that one of his ribs was broken. There were bruises in the shape of fingers on his neck, scratches covering his body, whip marks on his back, and then there was his left arm. Most of the skin had been burned off, but he had managed to heal most of it. To some extent.
Overall, he looked better than the day before. He didn't bother to put a glamour on the deep bruises under his eyes from lack of sleep and nutrition, but he did put on on his wrist and his neck. He tossed on worn, but fitted light colored jeans as well as a long sleeve, forest green shirt. As an extra precaution, he slipped on the flexible, soft black fingerless gloves that went up to both of his elbows. He had too many scars he wished to hide. With another sigh he slipped on his robe and his glasses. Instantly his vision fixed itself so that he could focus in on the details. He looks haggard and exhausted, but it would do. A quick brushing of his hair made it as good as it was going to get.
He could hear his dormmates waking up, so he hurried to pack his things in his bag and rush out of the dorm. He slowed once he entered the common room and slipped passed the few early risers and out the portrait hole. With a relieved expression on his face, he slowed his walk and headed towards the Great Hall in his newly aquired smooth gait to hide his injuries and discomfort. He entered without bothering to glance around. He knew by now that Draco Malfoy, Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor McGonnagal, Luna Lovegood, and Professor Snape were the only morning regulars. Various Ravenclaws were there depending on the day, and the Hufflepuffs only came in groups a bit later. The Slytherins and Gryffindors came in whenever they felt like it. He wasn't too worried, most of his housemates overslept. So he would be left alone for a bit.
Brushing his fingers almost lovingly across his books, he removed his Potions text and flipped it open to the chapter he had been reading up on. He had made a vastly improved effrt in Potions and had found that he had a talent when he ignored everyone else. He wasn't magnificent, but he was fairly good at Potions, and was extremely proud of it. So he nibbled on a bit of bacon as he studied his text, looking every bit the Ravenclaw, or perhas Hermione. Though, he didn't really want to think about the Head Girl. He had never thought she was one to hold a grudge, but she did. She refused to talk to Harry because he had wanted his space last year. Of course, Ron was simply bitching as he was wont to do. A few years ago it would have hurt, but not he was merely empty and did not care.
A hand came up and pushed his shoulder length tresses from his face as he ran one finger down the list of ingrediants the the specific potion he was stuck on, memorizing them while murmuring soundlessly under his breath. He frowned in though, chewing on his lip for a moment, before nibbling on another piece of bacon and sipping some of the milk he had asked for. A few moments later a grin lit up his face as he flipped to another section of the book, nodded, and then flipped back, proud of himself. He had figured out the problem that had been bothering him since yesterday. He glanced up, surprised to find that the Great Hall was fairly full, and he realized that he had let time escape him.
With a shrug he tossed his book into his back and grabbed another piece of bacon to nibble on. He couldn't eat much more than the three pieces of bacon without pain. He rose, ignoring the glances tossed his way, and left. He couldn't stand being around so many people at once, it truly unnerved him. So he headed down to his Double Potions class. As with every year before, he had it with Slytherins. Not that he cared any more, they had given up on him when he refused to fight back. Besides, it was an advanced class, so that meant that the classes were all intermixed. The door gave at his touch and he entered the room, setting up near the front at the center. after doing such, he went back to the potions book, only looking up again when Malfoy walked in, seating himself right next to Harry. Harry merely shrugged. Bother of them seemed to be...a bit out of it for lack of better wording. They didn't fight anymore so the arrangement was fine with him.
Again he slipped the book away and waited as the rest of the class soon entered. They slowly trickled in, followed by Snape. Harry tried to suppress an involuntary flinch at the sound of the door slamming and thought he had succeeded, though he didn't notice the slate hued eyes that were watching him rather closely. He went up to gather ingrediants, sharing them with Malfoy, though they had separate cauldrons. They sliced, diced, and stirred simultaneously, having no idea how odd they looked like that. Harry was ignoring the fact that Hermione was behind Malfoy and whispering to a nervous Hufflepuff girl. Blaise and Pansy were on his other side, though they ignored him too. So he was off in his own little world and for a moment forgot where he was.
This of course led to Malfoy grabbing his hand and preventing him from dumping the entire vial of shifter's blood into the cauldron. For possibly a moment longer than neccesary Malfoy clasped his hand, before releasing it and returning to his own potion. Harry stared at him a moment longer before murmuring his thanks and correcting his potion, refocusing on it before he ruined it again. He was so focused that he didn't register what was going on around him until he saw Draco lunge for him to pull him to saftey, though he misinterpretted it, and leapt backwards only to let out an unearthly scream as the potion's ingrediants soaked him, burning him easily and obviously causing extreme pain.
The class and even Snape seemed in shock. Malfoy glanced from his out stretched arms to Potter and back again before lowering them with a calculating look in his eyes. The Hufflepuff had messed up the Animagus Revealing potion completely. Harry and himself had already finished theirs, bottled it, and written down their own forms after adding a drop of blood to them. Harry had been writing when he had seen Draco Lunge and so ink had spilled across the bottom of his parchment, though it was still a rather lon list. Cat, Wolf, Raven, King Cobra, Panther, and Black Unicorn. THe magical animagus form proved that he was powerful, and the multiple forms proved that he had a complicated personality. Granger had only gotten an owl. Draco himself had gotten a cat, wolf, fox, tiger and dragon. It was rather creepy to see how similar his form list and Harry's were. He knew he would bother to learn all of his forms, though most people didn't if they even had more than one. He had a feeling that Potter would too. Potter.
His attention returned to the writhing boy on the floor and time sped up again. Snape dismissed the class and told Draco to pack up for Potter. Everyone brought their vials and sheets up to Snape's desk and left. Draco packed up Potter's things as Snape rushed the boy-who-lived down to the infirmary. He walked calmly, though he was curious about what would happen to the Golden Boy. He knew his godfather would get the boy there quickly and he didn't want to be seen running after them. Still, he sped up a bit. Being the Slytherin that he was, he glanced through Potter's things, eves widening as he saw a rather wrinkled sheet with a list of glamours, healing spells, and potions. It was an odd combination that only led Draco to remember the flinch at the beginning of class and the way Potter had leapt away from him. His brow furrowed as he slowly put the pieces together, but he was still missing too many to complete the puzzle.
He arrived to Potter screaming from the pain and lashing out at Pomfrey and SNape whenever they tried to remove his clothing. He looked like he was about to pass out, but was refusing too. Draco sauntered in, keeping silent to watch ow this would play out. FInally he saw his godfather growl and place a numbing potion beside Potter and step back. The boy, gasping for breath, downed it, and calmed down immensely. Then he stood, limping ever so slightly, and ran to the lavoratory, where he promptly threw up the bits of bacon he had eaten. He exited, still wobbling, and dropped his robe onto the ground, before collapsing onto one of the beds. Draco, still unnoticed, moved to as more concealed place. He heard the relieved sighs as he hid in the shadows. Relieved that Potter was finally out.
"Severus, what is it that's on him? No potion you are making in that class should be that painful, not even if it's boiling!"
"I assure you, it should not have had that effect. Ms. Leion did not follow instructions and Potter somehow managed to be in front of her caudron as it spilled everywhere, though I'm still not sure how he managed it."
"Well it doesn't matter any more. Just help me get his clothes off?"
Snape's smirk formed into a scowl. "Just do it Severus, we have to get this off of him so we can wash the potion off." The scowl deepened, but Snape did as asked and slowly peeled away the clothign with a gasp.
Draco snuck into a better position and looked on with horrified eyes as Potter was revealed. He was wearing some sort of bracer gloves that went up to his elbows and still had on loose boxers. Loose because he was all skin and bones. He looked frail and his entire body was bruised and scratched up. He right ankle also looked swollen. They rolled him over and Draco was shocked to see whip scars across his back. his was quickly turned stomach up again though The adults looked at eahc other, and then they each pulled away one of the bracers, expecting the worse. THey didn't expect what they found on his left arm, though there was only one slice on his right arm, and it looked as if it was shallow, and had been healed quickly after, as if he had second thoughts.
Pomfrey gasped as she looked at the horrible burn damage and the broken wrist, immeadiatly setting to work on both, meaning she had to reopen the wounds. Neither adult asked questions yet, they merely worked together to do so. Snape retrieved a single blood replenishing potion, bruise-healing potion, and a minor scar tissue healer first. Poppy reopened the burn tissue, so she could heal it correctly, though there would be scarring, it would lesson and wouldn't bother him as much as it probably would. She also had to reset the bones in his wrist and ankle before healing them. Snape continuously shoved potions down the boy's thoat, including nutrient potions which he desperately needed.
"Severus, I can handle the rest, would you please go get Albus, he needs to know. Anything that would pain him is healed now. The minor scratches and bruises are gone, the older ones fading. His bones are reset, his burn treated, and his rib is healed as well. He should be fine until you both get back." Her voice was fatigued and Severus merely nodded before taking his leave. Draco, who had been in shock up until then, dropped Potter's backpack onto the floor and escaped before he could be noticed.
It really was a lot to take in. Potter was obviously being abused by someone, and had been for quite sometime. He hid it rather well actually, which surprised Draco. He had never thought that Potter would become someone he could respect, but over the years he had measured up to what no one else seemed able to do. It was surprising and unnerving, so he needed some time to think things through. Deciding that that was the best course of action, he headed down to his private room, as Head Boy, down in the Dungeons.
Harry writhed in his sleep and tears leaked from his eyes before he opened them wearily. Poppy had gone back to her office for a moment, so he was alone. He glanced down, realizing in a detached horrified manner that his secret was out to some extent. He had been changed into a hospital gown and his clothes and glasses, that would explain the blurry vision, were folded up in a chair nearby. With a resigned sigh he leaned back. He knew it was too late, though he sincerly wished that they had never found out and that he could be somewhere else, be anyone else, be anyTHING else at this point. His head hurt, his body ached, and he was a bit naucious. And then it started.
He felt his bones all snapping, his muscles tearing, and his blood turning to fire. He knew he had to be dying, so this is how he would go out. In agony. He stopped thinking at that point and only registered the unnatural stretching of his body, the tightening of his long, even his eyeballs burned. He was gasping for breaths in between screams and had already drawn a crowd to him, though he didn't care. His hands were digging into the sheets, and he didn't realize that his nails were lengthening and shredding them as his back arched odd of the bed. Then his skin burned and tingled and he suddenly felt like he was going to be sick, which led to him falling off of the bed with a gasp, clutching his stomach, though his arms were forced away and more bones snapped before resetting.
Everyone stared on in shock as Harry Potter wobbled across the floor, looking sick and dizzy, and in extreme pain. It actually took Harry a moment to realize that everything looked more focused, but definitely less colorful. And then he realized that he didn't have his glasses on and that everything was suddenly a hundred times bigger. His shrieks cam out as a hiss and he stumbled backwards, looking around in horror. What had happened to him? His attention was drawn to the shocked Headmaster, the gaping Snape, and the faint looking medi-witch. He let out a pleadin noise, before falling over in a heap, unused to walking on four legs. Surprisingly, it was Snape that picked him up. He didn't even let his mind wander to how Snape was able to pick him up easily and hold him in his arms.
He fell asleep quickly as a soothing motion sent shivers down his back and induced a full body rumble of contented pleasure. He didn't register it as he drifted off into sleep. Snape, however, did and looked surprised.
"So what is going on with our dear Mr. Potter this time Severus?" It was spoken in a playful tone by Albus.
"I'm not sure. He was covered in some concoction that was supposed to be an Animagus Revealing potion by the incompetant Ms. Leion. I'm assuming it had the effect of the Animagus potion. Which means that he underwent a painful transformation into the easiest of his forms. Becase the true potion has to be set exactly to end at a certain time, it is impossible to tell when Mr. Potter shall transorm back. Especially since it was a mistake potion."
"Albus, we also found scars and many rather old wounds on Mr. Potter. Including a broken rib, ankle, and wrist. Someone has been abusing him, and it isn't somethign recent." This came from the suddenly in-control Poppy Pomfrey.
"Well, I believe we will have to investigate after we can talk to r. Potter again, Poppy. Now, Severus, I think that this will give Mr. Potter some recuperating time. He shall stay with you until he is well enough for Draco Malfoy to take care of him. Draco won't be found out like you could be, and SLytherin House is the last place you would expect to find Harry Potter hiding at. Besides, he seems to have taken a liking to you. I didn't know you liked cats."
Snape sneered, Poppy smiled slightly, and Albus exited as quickly as he had entered, so Snape was left to take the cat down to his rooms. Harry as a cat was quite beautiful. Sleek, silky short black fur that didn't shed badly, and he remembered the brilliant green emeralds from when he had been awake. He was lean, or would be once he gained enough weight to be healthy, and was slightly over average size, but that was normal for an animagus. How did potter manage to get into all of these messes? He sighed and walked up to the portrait of Salazar Slytherin seated with a smirk and a snake loosely coiled around him.
"Breuvage magique de fidélit"
Potion of Loyalty. The words, odd enough, were not even in Latin or English, but in French, so he was perfectly happy saying it where the cat could hear him, the cat couldn't understand it either way and most definitely could not hear it. Speaking of languages, he needed to come up with something to call the boy while he was posing as a cat. Well, nothing in English, too dull. So he began thinking of words that described the boy, such as brat and annoying, and then translating them to see if they rolled across his tongue. He finally decided on Noir, which meant black in French. It would do well enough. As he looked down at the cat now curled up in his lap, he sighed. So much for a somewhat normal year. Really, was there ever such a thing with Potter around? Not a chance, though at least things wern't boring.
Author's Note: Alright, now just to note a few things.
1. I really don't like ROn and Hermione, so they won't show up more than neccesary. Hermione, while intelegent, is stuck in her ways, and Ron is an ass when he thinks he is right, and he blames GInny's capture on Harry, even if Ginny doesn't blame Harry. I'll do more on the situation at Gryffindor's house from Neville's POV if I get a chance next chapter.
2. No, there are no slashy feelings yet. No Snape is not attracted to Harry. Also...Snape is just a cat person and you can't forget they DO have a mutual respect for each other. Which means that in front of Harry, Snape with be sarcastic, but he does care for the boy.
3. The Animagus Potion is not used or taught because you can't transform back of your own will, you have to wait until the potion wears off. Also because its very painful.
4. Yes, Harry is angsty, but it needs to be done. It'll be gone later on. After all, he isn't really rolling in self pity, just splashing his feat a bit. And I wanted to emphasize on Harry's maltreatment because it gives a co-is cut off by Pai's hand- Fine then. Well, in any case it's needed.
5. Here are the courses for any one who want them.
Harry's:
Advanced Potions
Advanced DADA
Advanced CoMC
Advanced Charms
Advanced Transfigurations
History of Magic
Draco's:
Advanced Potions
Advanced DADA
Advanced Arithmancy
Advanced Charms
Advanced Transfigurations
History of Magic
Hermione's:
Advanced Potions
Advanced DADA
Advanced Arithmancy
Advanced Ancient Runes
Muggle Studies
Advanced Charms
Advanced Transfigurations
History of Magic
Advanced CoMC
Ron's:
Advanced DADA
Advanced CoMC
Charms
History of Magic
Transfigurations
Divination
Potions
Neville's:
Advanced Herbology
Advanced DADA
History of Magic
Muggle Studies
Charms
Transfigurations
Potions
Luna's:
Advanced DADA
Advanced Charms
Advanced Transfigurations
Advanced Ancient Runes
Potions
History of Magic
Muggle Studies
Blaise & Pansy's:
Advanced Potions
Advanced Charms
Arithmancy
History of Magic
Advanced Transfigurations
DADA
6. Even though Draco is being...quiet, doesn't mean he's not a Slytherin. he can still sneak around, and he isn't suddenly best friend's with Harry. Thats why he spies and goes through his backpack. Draco is also intellegent.
7. Erm...Blaise is a guy.
Thanks a lot!
Strmbringr I NEED A BETA READER!! Anything else you want to know? Ask away in the review. -Strmbringr -sighs- Gomen Nasaii, but I can barely keep my eyes open. I barely got any sleep last night either -blinks owlishly-