Title: Felis Domesticatus vs Canis Lupus
Alternate title: Of Cats and Dogs
Rating: T (for swearing and lewd comments, cattishness)
Authoress: Rena Kaerutsukai
Summary: The cursed Defense Against the Dark Arts position has been refilled again, this time by a young woman. She does something that no other holder of this position has done, though: goes to the only available previous DADA professor for advice. That ex-professor is Remus John Lupin, who thinks that the new professor is a bit off her rocker. But they may just have more in common than he thinks. (implied SBRL)
Disclaimer: Um...yeah...all HP characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and all GO characters (and names) belong to Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Forgot to mention that earlier. I do own Felicia and the concept of duck mail. Yay me?
Chapter 6: The Abode of the Bookish Bachelor
After the shock of suddenly being in a new place wore off, Felicia wrenched her arm away from Remus. She staggered a bit, but was determined to stay upright and say her piece.
"I told you that I hate Side-Alonging." She said icily.
"Yes, but you never said why. Nor," Remus pointed out, "did my distaste for flying prevent you from dragging me on a broom. Apparating is very much the lesser of the two evils," he said logically, walking toward the homey cottage ahead. Felicia followed him, grumbling incoherently. Her attention, however, was grabbed by what looked to be a tiny house sticking out of the ground. From where she stood, a small window was visible.
"I assume that that's the shed you told me to stay away from?" She asked. A curt bob of the graying tawny-topped head in front of her was all that she got in reply. She sighed. Now she was curious, durn it. She couldn't even see a door on the freaking little thing. What was it for? What did it hold? She was so curious, she felt like doing a little dance of restrained questions. It was like holding back a river. Forcing herself to look ahead, she cocked her head at the homey little cottage where Remus apparently lived. It was like a little storybook house, she mused with a smile. Remus put his key in the doorknob, and turned it. The door swung open. He stepped aside so that Felicia could go ahead of him.
"Ladies first," he said with a smile. Felicia stepped in, and immediately found herself in the kitchen, the dining room, and the living room all at the same time. Were the house a bit bigger, she mused, it would look like the library that the Beast gave to Belle. Pretty much all of the books were obviously either well-loved or secondhand. A few looked new but had so much dust on them that it was hard to tell. There was a shelf of what looked like Defense texts (mostly teacher's copies, with seven dusty student's copies on the end), and a shelf of what appeared to be the rest of Remus' old schoolbooks.
"Most of these books were inherited from my parents," Remus said softly, noticing the awe-filled way that Felicia was staring at his book collection.
"I have a pretty impressive collection from my folks too, back at home." Felicia said. "But it's not as impressive as this." She wandered around the room, looking at all the different books. Eventually, her gaze came to rest on the humble mantle. Three pictures sat atop it. She walked over, taking one of the photos from the mantle. Four boys grinned back at her from the photo. One was obviously a younger Remus Lupin, more lively-looking and without the premature grey in his hair. One had shoulder-length black hair and tumultuous grey eyes, his arm thrown over the younger Remus' shoulders. The third boy had a short crop of black hair, unruly and spiking up every which way, his large glasses sliding down his nose to show brown eyes. The fourth boy in the picture smiled shyly from underneath his sandy hair, the only one in the photo who didn't seem to share the same sense of camaraderie that Remus and the other two boys shared.
"This is you?" Felicia asked, pointing to the younger Remus. A sad smile appeared on Remus' face as he crossed the room to take the picture from Felicia's hand.
"Yes, it is." He said softly, gazing at the picture, his hazel eyes misting over with memory.
"And the other three?" Felicia asked.
"They are—were, rather—three of my dearest friends." Remus sounded wistful. "We were very mischievous, the four of us. I was the logical one." He sighed, putting the framed photo on the mantle. He just stared at it for a moment, and then pulled himself away.
"You'll sleep in here tonight." He said softly, motioning toward the cozy sofa. Felicia nodded, making a note to examine the rest of the photos later.
"May I interest you in a cup of tea?" Remus said; his tone friendly.
"Sure," Felicia responded with a smile. She sat down at the little table, and Remus set a pot of water on to boil. He went to the cupboard and got out two cups and saucers, setting one in front of Felicia and the other in front of himself as he sat down.
"Remus, can I ask you something?" Felicia asked.
"Certainly, Felicia." Remus said with a smile.
"Well, um, what's it like working at Hogwarts? I mean—is there anyone who I should be wary of?" She asked. Remus almost laughed.
"There is one person—a man who attended Hogwarts with my friends and I. He's had his eye on your position since he became part of the faculty, and he generally doesn't take kindly to the new Defense professors." He explained with a soft chuckle. "His name is Severus Snape. My advice would be to keep on his good side."
"I'll be trying to make a good first impression," Felicia said, taking a sleepy Warlock out of her pocket and setting him on the table.
"That's wise." Remus said, petting Warlock when the duckling came close. He and Felicia talked companionably until the tea kettle started squealing. Warlock added to the cacophony by quacking loudly, annoyed by the shrill noise. Remus got up and poured tea for him and Felicia, stopping the shrill audio assault of the tea kettle. Warlock ruffled angrily, nipping at Remus' fingers when the wizard tried to comfort the disgruntled duckling.
Remus sat back down after setting out the milk and sugar. He added a bit of both to his cup, sipping the milky tea. Warlock settled himself on the now-vacated saucer. Felicia, laughing at Warlock's antics and the expression on Remus' face, added sugar to her tea. As soon as she lifted the cup from the saucer, however, Warlock waddled over and settled on her saucer, allowing Remus the opportunity to set his cup down.
They amused themselves by playing with Warlock; taking turns each lifting their cups after the other. Warlock waddled from one to the other, quacking happily as his back end wiggled from side to side. At one point, he stretched his wings up and shook, standing in between his surrogate parents. This was too much.
Where both Felicia and Remus had been smiling amusedly, perhaps chuckling or giggling a bit, they laughed freely as Warlock seemed to call on the powers that be. Warlock sat down, preening adorably. Remus looked at the clock, and saw that it was past ten. It made sense, he mused, looking out at the mostly-dark sky. Felicia fought to hide a yawn, wishing that she hadn't pulled an all-nighter packing last night.
"Perhaps it's time to retire for the night," Remus said, smiling gently. Felicia let her yawn go, nodding through it. She pulled two sugar-cube sized boxes out of her coat pocket, setting them down and muttering a spell. She rummaged through her suitcases until she found what she was looking for: a set of pink pajamas, a glasses case, and a case for contact lenses. She took out her wand, and the case for contact lenses she transfigured into a small pool for Warlock, setting the little duckling in one side and filling the other with water. She carried the duck habitat to the only clear corner and set it down, before taking her glasses off and putting them in the case. She was left holding her pajamas.
"Where's the bathroom?" She asked. Remus smiled and pointed.
"Through that doorway, first door on the left," he said. She scurried off to the bathroom, forgetting one thing: to open the door. With a small "oof!" she fell down. Blushing furiously, she got to her feet and opened the bathroom door before darting in. Minutes later, she emerged in her pink pajamas that, Remus now noticed, had kittens all over them. She messily shoved everything but her wand holster into her suitcase, sitting on it to zip it before returning both to their miniaturized state. She set them by the lamp at the end of the table. She surprised Remus by hugging him.
"Goodnight, Remus," she said with a smile after pulling back. "Thanks for letting me stay here."
"It's no trouble, Felicia," Remus smiled. "Goodnight." He walked out of the room, leaving Felicia with only the lamp. The door at the end of the hall opened and shut. Felicia walked over to the mantle, looking at the three pictures. On either side of the picture of Remus and his friends sat a picture. To the left was what looked like a wedding picture: the wild-haired boy—now a man, in the picture—standing with a pretty red-haired woman. The picture on the right side of the mantle was of the grey-eyed boy and Remus, looking happy. Felicia smiled, walking back to the couch and lying down. She pulled an empty pincushion and a small square of blue fabric out of her backpack, transfiguring them into a pillow and top sheet with a flick of her wand. She set her wand by the two tiny suitcases, and then snuggled under the top sheet. She clicked out the light and fell asleep almost right away.
Tomorrow's the full moon, so I have a surprise for all you darling readers! A full moon post! Yaaay!
What happens when a werecat and a werewolf are in the same general vicinity on the full moon? Stay tuned to find out!