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)

Chapter 7: Mr. Moony Meets Miss Matched

Two weeks had passed since Felicia had moved in with Remus. Things had gone rather well, if Felicia was any judge. Warlock had lost his down, and was now on his way to being a full-fledged duck (if a bit of a pygmy).

And so it was on the full moon night, Warlock sleeping in his contact-lens-case-turned-duck-habitat, and Felicia watching anxiously out the window in Remus' bedroom, waiting for the moon to rise.

She didn't know where the wizard had gone off to. He said that he would have to stay in the shed tonight, though fathoming why only tonight was beyond Felicia. She was just dense like that sometimes. He had told her to go ahead and sleep in his room tonight, and so that's where she was. She looked nervously around the immaculate room, just knowing that although her feline self would break little, she would leave chaos in her wake. And because it wasn't her room and she didn't know where anything was, she couldn't put it all back in order.

Remus wouldn't be happy if he found his bedroom trashed tomorrow. Felicia opened the door so that she wouldn't be trapped in the room after she transformed. She removed her clothes calmly, folding them and setting them on the bed. Outside, the full moon reached its apex. A shudder rolled over Felicia as the transformation started. The awful pain of contortion and condensation of muscle and bone, the sudden, stabbing prickle of the white fur sprouting all over her body, and the minute lengthening of the muscle was almost too much for Felicia to handle. She barely bit back a yowl of pain. Once her transformation was complete, she sauntered out the door, her white tail flicking excitedly as she set off to explore.

As Felicia was transforming, so too was Remus, and after his transformation was complete, the great tawny head of the wolf tipped back as he let out a chilling howl. This howl gave the cat that had been walking by pause. Her ears pricked with curiosity, and she jumped down into the tiny window well of the shed.

The wolf paused, sniffing the air. He smelled human, like he smelled every month, but more importantly...the proud tawny head snapped toward the window, yellow eyes narrowed as lips curled back in a ferocious snarl, a growl bubbling up from deep in his throat. He smelled a cat. He barked ferociously, slavering jaws large enough to crush the little cat snapping shut with each sound. The wolf stood on his hind paws to reach the cat, who realized – with an 'Oh shit' expression on her feline face – that there was nothing separating her and the wolf, save a precious few inches of air. The cat, mentally reciting a profane mantra not fit to be typed, scurried – claws fully extended – down the wolf's back and into the shed.

The canine howled in fury and pain, jumping down and turning around to face the little white cat. The cat met the wolf's yellow eyes with her glittering green, an open expression of challenge. The two opponents circled one another, not breaking eye contact. When the wolf advanced, the cat hissed and swatted at him, taking a step back. Finally, once the cat knew that she was close enough to a refuge to be able to get away, she broke eye contact and bolted under the bed. The wolf barked and snarled, his previous ferocity returning, as he madly tried to fit his large head under the bed to reach the scared cat. The cat crouched underneath the bed, her ears flat against her head and her fur standing on end, until finally the wolf started to tire and the moon started to sink. The adrenaline swept out of her, and she drifted off to sleep only after she was satisfied that the wolf had done so already. She didn't even give a moment's thought to the shabby clothes that she was comfortably curled up on.

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When Felicia awoke in the morning, naked and in the dark, the first thing that she noticed was the clothes that she was lying on. The second thing that she noticed was that for the first time, she was under a bed. Not near, or beside, but under. A slight groan brought her attention to thing number three: a very naked Remus J. Lupin lying just out of arms' reach. The expression that flashed across her face can only be described as 'OMGWTFBBQ". She did what a normal person in the same situation would do. She screamed. Remus started, hitting his head against the cast-iron bed frame.

"Felicia?" He shouted upon seeing the white-haired American under the bed, the hand that was absently rubbing his sore head now stilled.

"No, it's the tooth fairy," Felicia said with a roll of her eyes, shifting so as not to endanger her dignity. "What are you doing here?"

"How did you get under the bed?" Remus asked. Felicia, being much more in tune with the cat than Remus was with the wolf, suddenly remembered the previous night vividly.

"Holy shit, you're the wolf? The one that fucking chased me under the bed last night?" Felicia shrieked. The bits and pieces of the night before that were floating around in Remus' head suddenly clicked together with Felicia's words.

"You're the cat?" He exclaimed, substantially calmer than Felicia.

"But how?" They said in unison. Green eyes locked on hazel.

"So what's your story, morning glory?" Felicia asked. "Wolf animagus or werewolf?"

"Werewolf." Remus confessed. "And you?"

"Werecat." Felicia blushed. "You realize we're still both buck naked," she said a bit sheepishly, and oh-so-astutely. A light blush rose to Remus' face.

"Yes, and I do believe that you're lying on my clothes."

"Oh? Oh, whoops, my bad." She scooted off his clothes, still preserving her dignity (not that she had to: Remus had by this point averted his eyes), and passed them to him.

"I'll stay under here until you're decent," Felicia said, her blush deepening. Not to be outdone, Remus' face reddened in kind as the man stood, only his ankles and feet now visible to Felicia. She saw what looked like a long scar running up his leg from his ankle.

"What happened to your leg?" She asked curiously.

"The wolf," Remus said simply.

"The wolf hurts you?" This was of course a foreign concept to Felicia. Having never really known a werewolf (the only werewolf at New Salem Witches' Academy had graduated when Felicia was a first year), she didn't know the details of the condition.

"Yes." A pair of patched, ragged pants was pulled up, effectively covering the scar. Felicia stuck her head out from under the bed, wishing desperately that she had her wand so that she could just 'accio' her clothes.

"I'll turn my back while you go back to the house." Remus offered, sensing Felicia's distress.

"What? I'm not going to streak!" She turned her head as far as she could to glare at Remus. The wizard simply sighed.

"Through that door is a secret passageway that leads to a trap door." Remus said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Felicia tentatively squirmed out from under the bed and stood, briefly taking in her surroundings. True to his word, Remus patiently had his back turned, currently standing at the window. She noticed that the sheets on the bed looked as though blood had been washed out of them, and there were deep claw marks in the floor that showed the destructive fury of the wolf. She walked over to the door and shoved the heavy paw-proof bolts out of place. She opened the door and scampered down the earthen hallway, stopping when a piece of string smacked her in the face. She pulled on it, and sure enough, a trap door swung down and smacked her in the back of the head. Grumbling, she hoisted herself out of the hole and walked to Remus' room.

She grabbed her clothes and quickly dressed. Felicia went back to the living room/dining room/kitchen, and was about to go back in the tunnel when something caught her eye. It was the picture of Remus and his three friends. With a start, Felicia realized why the Remus she knew seemed so sad: he was a wolf who had lost his pack. She stared at the picture, and the four boys grinned back. The one with tame black hair and fathomless grey eyes seemed to be staring at her.

'Take care of him,' a voice in Felicia's mind said softly, sadly. The voice obviously belonged to a man, and a sudden chill caused Felicia to shiver. Had she just been visited by a spirit? With a gesture that could be construed as a nod, she tore her eyes away from the haunting grey eyes of the boy in the photo. She jumped down into the tunnel, scared out of her wits momentarily when she came face to face with Remus, who had come back up to the house. With a sheepish grin, she hoisted herself back up, and Remus followed moments later.

"That was an eventful full moon," Felicia said with a short laugh.

"I could have seriously injured you – even killed you – last night. I told you not to go near the shed." Remus scolded.

"Oh come off it, Remus. Do you really think I had any more control over my actions last night than you did over yours?" Felicia asked. "I don't blame you, you were just being a dog. Just like I was being a cat," she pointed out logically.

"You know what curiosity did to the cat, don't you?" Remus asked. Felicia laughed, crawling out from under the table. Remus popped up on the other side.

"The wolf didn't hurt you last night, did he?" Felicia asked seriously.

"Not a scratch," Remus said with a reassuring smile. "He was too focused on you," he added with a laugh. Felicia flipped her ivory locks, mock preening.

"Isn't everyone?" She asked sweetly. Remus had to choke back a snort of laughter.

"But of course." He said only slightly sarcastically. The two of them were startled by the soft quack of the sleepy little fledgling duck in the corner. Remus smiled.

"I'll put tea on," Remus said, getting the water. He set the tea kettle on the counter and went to his room to get his wand. Might as well do it the wizarding way. When he came back, Felicia was still crouched in the corner, holding the now feathered (and what a fiasco that had been, thought Remus as he remembered the ugly little naked duckling quacking in pain as the feathers sprouted from its skin) Warlock in her hands. He tapped the kettle with his wand, and immediately it began shrieking to announce that the water was boiling. Warlock quacked loudly, startled and annoyed. The fledgling flapped his little-used wings, taking off unsteadily and flying frantically toward Remus' face. Luckily, the wizard was holding his wand.

"Impedimenta!" He shouted, pointing it at the crazed duck. Warlock froze in midair, and started to fall.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Scratch that. Warlock just sort of floated there, looking bemusedly at his surrogate father. Felicia glared venomously. How dare he cast spells on her baby?

"Finite Incantatem!" She shouted, drawing her ivy wood wand and pointing it at Warlock. The fledgling recovered quickly, flying back toward Felicia and landing on her head.

"Good boy, Warlock!" Felicia cooed. "Did you see him, Remus? He flew! He flew for the very first time!" She seemed about as excited as a mother whose child just caught the snitch at his very first quidditch game. Had she not had her precious cargo on her head, she likely would have been bouncing up and down with joy.

"Yes, right towards my face," Remus muttered, pouring the tea. "How was I supposed to miss an aggravated duck flying toward my face?" Felicia walked over to the table, Warlock still perched on her head. The young witch sat down, and Remus sat across from her after getting out the milk and sugar. Felicia, who had developed a taste for milk in her tea, added a bit of both. Remus did the same, only with less milk and more sugar.

"The three in the photo...they knew, didn't they?" Felicia asked. Remus looked up, slightly surprised at the question, then nodded.

"And they helped." Felicia said. Again, Remus nodded.

"They became animagi in our fifth year. They were with me during transformations, and with them, the wolf became tamer."

"Maybe if I'm here every full moon, the wolf'll get used to me." Felicia said with a smile. "Then he won't hurt you anymore."

"Maybe. But soon your rooms at Hogwarts will be ready, so we likely won't be able to find out." Remus pointed out.

"Why not? One of the other professors will cover for me during the day, right? I can floo or Apparate, and be here before moonrise." Remus shook his head.

"I can't ask you to do that," he said softly.

"That's the point. You're not asking me to do it. I'm doing it of my own choice, which means whether you like it or not. And anyway, there's no potion to let a werecat keep their mind during the full moon. I'm safer and the students and faculty are safer if I'm here, since neither of us can change the other." Felicia again made a point.

"But what if the wolf--" Remus started. Felicia put her hand on his.

"Ap-up-up. No arguing. The wolf won't hurt me. I have a plan." Remus nodded. Felicia smiled.

"I used to have friends like yours," she said softly, taking her hand back. "My boyfriend was the only one to successfully become an animagus, but with just him, it was enough to calm me down so that I wouldn't hurt my other two friends. I know what it's like to have friends who care." Her voice was solemn, sad, and her gaze was faraway. "And I know what it's like to be the last one left."

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So, readers, that was the full moon chapter. Likes? Dislikes? I know a lot of people are reading this. (245 hits! Wowza!)

(Felicia's nickname, Miss Matched, is a pun (people who know me groan) to be explained if I ever get around to writing her backstory. It just kind of sprung into my head. ;)