And walk together down an endless lane,
Until our hearts have learned to sing again,
When you come home once more.
And in the evening by the firelight glow,
You'll hold me close and never let me go,
Your eyes will tell me all I want to know,
When you come home once more".
'First and foremost, that is my favourite song'.
Hermione was too shocked and scared to try to understand the King's rather unusual opening statement.
'I think one should always share that type of information on a first meeting. -he continued- 'It is not only a "safe" ice-breaker (as it is impossible to find any particular perversion in it), it's information that may come in very handy, if the other individual knows how to read it properly...between the lines, I mean' -he corrected himself, while Hermione had begun to regain her composture, and even found that last remark, rather patronizing.
'So...'-began the King, stepping into the frame of moonlight, reflected on Hermione's bed covers.
Then she really saw the talking figure for what it was. A cat. Fat, but a rather small one. No bigger
than her issue of 'Hogwarts, a History', only hairy and soft; so he was more like her copy of
The Monster book of Monsters; all this she thought privately, amidst her confussion, which was
slowly beginning to wear off, if she was regaining her initial wit.
'SO' -mark the Kind repeating himself, once he noticed that he'd lost the attention of his audience.
Hermione gasped back.
The King's last word had been voiced differently. It was almost like a rauckus meowing, but also a
deep voice that was inside her head...somehow.
'So...'-began the King, one last time, this one in his normal voice- 'little girl, little girl'
It seemed to Hermione that the he had begun reciting something, only she found slightly amusing to
be called 'little', when the cat wasn't exactly a jungle tiger.
And she would've said something too, but again fear took a toll on her wit when she saw what can only
be described as terrifying: the cat's eyes illuminated with a red glow, and his shadow grew ten times
darker and ten times larger. It was alsmost as if it had become a being on its own right, that seemed to
echo the King's voice and movements, but at the same time made them monstrous and evil.
The cat opened his snout to speak again and Hermione gasped once more when she saw the new, engorged fangs,
ready to talk:
'Aye, little girl, quite little indeed; seems to me that you shall not doubt my size ever again'.
Had he been inside her head moments ago or had he only guessed what Hermione had been thinking about the King's size?
Whatever the answer, the King was soon speaking again, as the shadows around him seemed to multiply, but lessen
their intensity:
'...Then thou shalt not doubt, and thou shalt never doubt again, if thou would like me not to be inside thy little
mind, as little as thy body, ever again'
The muiltiplied shadows ruffled, echoing the cat's words and gestures.
Among all, she had noticed how the cat had turned to the use of words that were already dead in their language.
'So, anyway' -the King was jovial and casual once again, although the multiple shadows still lurked around the room, which Hermione thought was a constant reminder- 'what brings you to my precense, little girl?'
-W-what brings me to your prescence? -the girl dared venture.