DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and all other characters and locations belong to J. K. Rowling.
Chapter 10 – Welcome Home
The walls were made of thick light gray stone while the floor was carpeted in a series of plush emerald rugs. Draco's trunks had appeared with a crack and landed with a thump, while Harry's cage had dumped him onto the ground in a heap before a vanishing. Leaving him laying half upside down with his pillow resting on top of him, snarling at being treated so harshly he bit his claws into his pillow and proceeded to tear it apart. Glaring at the mess he had made he set to pacing the length of the room, ignoring the immense king size bed draped in black and green velvets
The Slytherin common room was full of students; from first year to seventh they had all assembled to listen to their Head of House. Severus Snape was perched in a wing back chair next to the fireplace, eyeing the writhing mass of students before him. Sighing he settled deeper into the cushions, glad for the warmth of the fire before beginning to address his house.
"I would once again like to welcome you all to Slytherin House, be you new or returning students. Slytherin House is much more then a group that seeks to achieve the same goals, we're family. In this house you will find all the students that no else wants, we're the outcasts so be prepared to be treated as if you are evil by the other houses. I expect you to ignore them, there is to be no fighting which may result in the loss of points. If you have any problems speak with an older student or me immediately.
"This year there are several new members of the house that were not introduced at the sorting. These are the familiars the headmaster spoke about. I remind you all that they are not to be touched or threatened unless you have permission by the wizard or witch that owns them to do so. Now I will leave you all to get better acquainted and find your beds." Thus said, Professor Severus Snape opened a hidden door in the wall before stepping through and being swallowed by the darkness.
Draco glared at several of the first years that were staring at him in amazement; of course it would have helped if Blaise hadn't stated that the Prince of Slytherin was looking tired this evening. Shaking his head at his friend's antics, he moved to claim the chair that had been his since first year. Seating himself next to the warmth of the fire, he peered thoughtfully into the dancing orange flames. His head snapped up at the light tap on his shoulder, whirling about to see who was touching him, he sighed in relief to see Blaise standing slightly behind his chair.
"Just wanted to introduce you to Nox Noctis Spes, I know it's a bit of a mouthful so just call him Nox. Figured we should introduce our familiars seeing as we'd be spending a lot of time together, with classes and meal together they'll have to get used to each other." Blaise stated, running his fingers through the coat of a massive white wolf. The wolf stood slightly taller then Blaises waist and had golden eyes that glinted in the firelight. A gold collar encircled its neck, marked with sapphires and runes of protection. Beyond Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle stood silent sentinels as always.
"Thelma." Crabbe grunted, finger pointing at the little red squirrel riding his shoulder.
"Louise." Goyle grumbled, pulling a small chipmunk from the inside pocket of his robes, dangling the little creature in the air before him. All eyes were on Draco who sat there frowning back at the three of them.
"Well? Are you going to get your familiar or would you like me to do it for you?" Blaise said, pretending turning towards the door to Draco's chambers. Snarling Draco stormed towards the door of his private room to retrieve Damian but was intercepted by Pansy who swung a fluffy ball of black fur beneath his nose.
"Oh Draco, you just have to meet my familiar. Isn't she gorgeous? I hope she gets along with your familiar; I bet they'll be absolutely adorable together. I've named her Midnight Jade. Why don't you run and get your familiar so everyone can see what your daddy got you." She purred, the pointed nose of the little black fox she was clutching rose, growling unhappily at the shaking Pansy was giving her, she snapped her little fangs in displeasure.
"Get that mange infested animal out of my face Pansy." Draco demanded, holding one hand in front of him to ward the thrashing animal off. Seeing the proffered hand, the devilish little animal took the opportunity to grab one of Draco's fingers and plant a firm bite on it. Hissing in pain, he clutched the bloody finger to his chest; the rest of the common room falling silent at the drama unfolding before their eyes. All faces turned pale at the resounding crash as something large and heavy impacted with the back of Draco's door. The entire room released deeply inhaled breaths as the door held but they had loosed them to soon. The heavy door slowly creaked and buckled as the weight being applied to it increased until it fell into the room, landing with a dull thud. All eyes stared in shock at the frothing panther perched atop the wreckage. Emeralds blazed as the enraged panther lashed its tail and roared into the silence of the Slytherin common room. Gliding off the ruined door, the panther slid into a hunting crouch, stalking the source of Draco's pain. Crouching so close to the ground that his belly dragged, the panther moved forward, fangs flashed as the large panther hissed and spat.
Pansy shrieked in fear at the approaching animal, doing the only thing she could think to do, she hurled the fox at the panther's head. In a move like lightening, the fox was dragged from the air and pinned beneath a large paw, held there as the panther rumbled unhappily. The room was deathly silent as everyone awaited the panther's next movement. A soft growl from behind them had all eye's turning to look at Nox, who had planted his feet, and lowered his head, hackles raised as he responded to the panther's challenge. Blaise locked his hand around the wolf's collar and gave him a command to stay but appeared to be having some trouble restraining the animal.
"Perhaps someone should go and get Professor Snape?" Draco suggested sarcastically, glaring at the other students who stood flabbergasted and horrified around the room. Rolling his eyes he watched as a second year scampered through the door that led out of the common room. A hissing snarl and a low yelp had him jerking back around to watch as Damian shook the fox by the back of the neck. Drawing a breath he moved forward and began to address the pissed panther.
"Now Damian, we both know that that little fox didn't really mean to bite me. She would have gladly chomped on Pansy but in the same situation I would have also grabbed the cleaner hand rather then the one that's been who knows where." Chuckles rose through the dungeon common room at Draco's words. Pansy hissed in anger and started to stomp towards Draco with a hand raised but froze at the menacing hiss of the panther.
"Why don't you let the poor animal go? After all I think it's suffered enough being bonded to Pansy for the rest of its life." Draco moved slowly to where the panther crouched, placing a hand on the top of the animal's head, but jerking back as the animal made a quick move of its head. The black vixen went sliding across the floor to rest at Pansy's feet. Draco returned his hand to the cat's velvety fur, sighing in relief as the panther began to purr softly beneath his ministrations.
"A panther?" Blaise hollered, now that the commotion was over he felt free to once again express himself. "Your father got you a panther? Are you kidding me? Dad got me a wolf cause their stronger then dogs but less loyal. Cats have no masters! How the hell are you going to train a full grown male panther?"
"Simple, with love." Draco stated, scratching the cats chin as it was pressed harder into his palm. "I'll always protect him and he'll always protect me, no questions asked."
"You're going to train a panther with love? Did you get hit to hard this summer? Bang your head off something perhaps?" Blaise wondered, staring in shock at the pair sprawled on the dungeon floor, panther humming happily beneath the hands of his wizard.
"No. Nothing has hit me since I got him. The only person to raise their hands against me was injured by Damian's claws. I have a feeling he'd do the same to anyone else that tried to injure me." Murmured Draco, rising from where he had been kneeling to better pet his familiar, leaving one of his hands resting atop the cat's square head. "Can you claim the same? Did Nox snarl at anything that could possibly injure you?" At his friend's look of shame, Draco sighed. Extending his hand to Blaise the pair shook hands, mending the friendship that had come close to breaking over nothing.
"As for training, a wolf or dog relies heavily on commands; cats have their own unique way of doing things. I locked him in a room while I went to attend a meeting with Father and he found me. Smashed through a third floor window to get to me and protect me. He listens to, all the time, seems to know what needs to be done and how to accomplish it." Draco said softly, gazing into twinkling emerald eyes. Looking at all the students standing about the common room, he quickly glared and demanded to know what they were all doing. Immediately a rush was made for various doors and staircases as students scrambled to get to their beds before the Prince of Slytherin sent his panther after them.
Draco sighed as he watched the fleeing students rush from the room, turning to glare at Pansy who stood white faced a few meters away; he curled his lip in disgust.
"I told you before never to touch me Pansy and I meant it." Turning away from her, he rubbed his forehead and frowned at Blaise, Crabbe, and Goykl who stood behind him, familiars close by awaiting the word of their masters. "Well, this is my familiar Damian," Draco introduced, as if the whole incident had never occurred, "and I'm sure that they'll all like each other; eventually." Damian had begun pacing back and forth before Draco, snarling softly even though the threat had passed. Pausing, the cat headed straight for Draco with a single mindedness only observed when someone was on a mission. The panther stalked a tight circle around Draco, leaving a thin line of black hairs in his wake; he stopped right before him and dropped to a crouch. His head impacted with Draco's knee, momentarily knocking the young wizard off balance before a hand placed on the offending head assisted him in recovering his balance.
"Stop Damian. Damn, its going to take forever to get all that hair off my robes, you better be glad that you're black cat." Draco stated, frantically rubbing at his cloak and trousers in hopes of knocking the clinging hair loose.
"Tomorrow evening, after dinner, you will all report to the potions classroom. After the disturbance I just witnessed I believe that you all need to be trained on controlling your familiars as well as using the bond to the best of your abilities." Professor Snape's harsh voice had everyone in the room jumping and releasing gasps at the sudden appearance of their Head of House. Neither Nox nor Damian flinched, a sure sign that they had heard the professor enter the common room. "I'm also to inform you that though your familiars are tame and won't attack unless aggravated, they must wear leashes at all times when out of the Slytherin common room." Smirking at the groans emitting from the five students, he left the room without another word, portal slamming closed behind him. The muffled 'Now go to bed' had all students whispering good night and heading towards their dorms or private rooms.
Damian sat sprawled across the foot of Draco's bed, watching him storm about the room and curse over the ruined door, that still lay forgotten on the floor, as well as the shredded bits of pillow floating around.
"You ruined your pillow so where the hell do you think you're going to sleep?" Draco demanded pausing long enough to look at the contented panther currently occupying his bed. "There is no way I'm letting you sleep on the bed either." Turning towards the door he drew his wand, casting the spell that would repair the door. Watching as the wood healed itself, closing cracks and filling claw marks, he cast another spell on Damian's pillow. When the door was fully repaired, Draco gave a flick of his wand that had it floating in the air and resettling itself on the hinges. The panther's pillow refused to go back to its original form, looking rather lumpy and uncomfortable in Draco's opinion. Sighing, he gathered the stuff he would need for bed and left for the Slytherin bathrooms. Reappearing forty five minutes later, he found Damian fast asleep on the bed and no amount of pulling or pushing was moving the panther. Grumbling under his breath, Draco climbed into bed, pulling the covers tight to his chin; he made sure to plant a foot into the cat's middle before closing his eyes and giving in to the call of sleep.
A/N: Wow, all the nice things you guys have to say really keeps me writing. I've also been given some awesome suggestions which I will have no trouble fitting in somewhere. I must also apologize because I won't be posting as often either, I have a major moot court project to get ready for. Don't worry though, I'll still be updating every other day anyway.