A/N REVIEW RESPONSES:
athenakitty: He'll get bigger, but not that big.
oOo The Skittle Queen oOo: Oh yeah. that'll spread like wildfire...KITTY!
Shakespears Whore: Thanks...
Angelite99: I don't have taht much luck with cats either - only Marina (my cat). And it's really okay - blame my self-esteem.
SesshyGirlFluffy: blushes I'm thinking about either being a writer or an editor - I love words. Numbers, on the other hand...yeesh...
Lady FoxFire: it's fifth year, but it's gonna be AU in that sense.
Seul Wolf: See above. Glad you like!
T.Felton: Ya, he got some ink. It's in the chap.
Lux et Veritas: Hmmm...I'll think about that...WHAT DOES YOUR NAME MEAN! Usually I can figure things out but I've learned my Greek/Latin/Irish when I was younger...(my nurses - my mom wasn't around a lot) And now I''m rusty...so..
0mrs.prongs0: thanks...lol
Phoegan Leisha: I know what it's like with a cat on your head. It's not fun.
Elisandra1: Yeah...about that...
Baroque Isabella: you'll see...
where-my-heart-resides: SO AM I!
The-13th-to-fall: Yeah...backs away slowly
SAXandCLARINTgrl: Hiiii...glad you liked!
Mucina: More for ya!
love-blonde-bunny: Huggle!
Prosper: MEW...
Draco: he says he's sore from all the huggles...
Angeltread: whispers something in Draco's ear
Draco: NOOOO!
Draco sighed in annoyance as he felt Prosper stirring on his head from his hour-long nap. He turned to his newly-re-discovered cousin who was playing poker with Remus.
"Ha! I win!" Sirius crowed excitedly. Remus groaned.
"Siri, you KNOW that I suck at poker…"
"No duh, that's why I picked it…"
Draco gave a snort of laughter. On his head, Prosper mewed and leaped onto Sirius's lap. The last Black smiled and scratched Prosper behind the ears. The tiny cat mewed softly and purred. Draco felt a strange feeling in his chest. Surely not jealousy? It was POTTER, after all…
Oh yes, he was jealous. He felt almost like growling and snatching Prosper away from Sirius when the man laughed and tickled Prosper along the stomach.
"Siri, do you remember when you turned yourself into a squirrel?"
Sirius gave a bark-like laugh. "Christ, yeah."
"What happened?" asked Draco curiously.
Remus chuckled. "Well, he didn't waste any time once he was a squirrel – he knew what his mission was. He shot out – I mean, really, really fast – right at Snape…which, in all honesty, was not the smartest thing to do, seeing as Snape knew more Dark hexes than the teachers."
"Yeah, yeah, Dark hexes my foot. He turned my lime green!" cried Sirius in indignation.
"Yes, well, you were asking for it, Padders. You know you were. When you told us what you were going to do, I TOLD you that it wasn't the smartest idea, to attack Slughorn or Crabbe instead, but nooooo…it had to be Snape."
"Yeah, well, Harry pulled it off," Draco put in. Remus raised an eyebrow and Sirius punched the air with a fist.
"YEAH! How'd he do it? I demand details!" laughed Sirius excitedly. Remus shook his head at his friend's antics, but Draco knew that he was masking a grin – Draco did that as well.
"Well, it was a few minutes before I came to see you, Professor, and I had asked to go see him because he's my godfather and he could probably help me, and so –"
"Whoa, whoa, hold on a sec, SNIVILLUS is a GODFATHER?" demanded Sirius.
"Yeah, apparently. Anyway, he laughed at me and wasn't helping get Ha-POTTER here off my head, so I threatened him – it's sometimes so pathetically easy to blackmail Sev…you wouldn't believe… – and he tried to pull Prosper off my head, and…well, it wasn't too pretty."
Sirius cracked up with Remus, who broke out a smile at last.
"Oh, I know how easy Snape is to blackmail – I did it many times back when I was here. Speaking of, lunch is almost over and I'm HUNGRY. Therefore, we'll be going down to see everyone! Oh, Re, is Minnie still here?"
Remus laughed and nodded. Draco raised an eyebrow. "Minnie?"
"His nickname for Professor McGonagall."
"Yeah! I haven't seen ol' Minnie in…almost…hmm…fifteen years."
"Wouldn't it be nineteen, seeing as how you graduated nineteen years ago?"
"No, Re, I saw her…yeah, you remember the…the Halloween it happened?"
"No, Sirius, I'd forgotten. What night is that again?" said Remus sarcastically.
"Shut up. Anyways. You were sick that night and I have no idea where Pete was, so James and I got Lily to perform a De-Aging Charm…but it wore off after a while…and we went trick-or-treating and saw McGonagall dressed up in her school robes and hat and handing out candy to little Muggle kids."
Remus laughed. "The parents probably wondered at how authentic her costume was…"
Draco chuckled. The thought of his strict, uptight Transfiguration teacher handing out candy was almost too much.
"C'mon, Re, Draco," whined Sirius, "I'M HUNGRY!"
And without waiting for a reply he raced down the corridor. Draco heard a THUNK behind him and turned to see Professor Lupin laying face-down on the desk, his hair eagle-spread. "It's okay, Draco," he called in a rather muffled voice. "I just thought I'd give myself a headache now and save Sirius the trouble of doing it."
"Gaze, my children, into the shimmering depths of the crystal…and tell me…what your eyes see…"
Draco rolled his eyes. Prosper, on the desk, tilted his head adorably (GAH! NOT ADORABLY! MALFOYS DID NOT SAY ADORABLE! But you said ADORABLY, commented a voice in the back of his head. He told the voice to shut up.) to one side and blinked, staring at the crystal ball. He gave a small mew and smacked the ball with his paw, wanting to move it.
"Good luck," said Draco quietly. Prosper turned to him and swatted his nose one time and then once again for good riddance before going back to examining the crystal ball. He wrinkled his tiny black nose, twitched his whiskers, and head butted the ball. He stumbled back, blinked, and fell over. Looking confused, he stood again and, deciding that safety lay on Draco's head, clambered back up.
"Oh no you don't," Draco whispered. "I spent almost all of Charms getting ink out of my hair." He reached up and took the little animal in his hand and cuddled it close to him. Prosper yawned and stretched, giving a soft, quiet mew before drifting off.
"Mr. Malfoy?"
Draco jumped, carefully though. He didn't want to awaken Prosper. Wait, wait…since when had he gone out of his way to take care of Potter? He blew it off and tuned into Trelawney.
"What do you see in your crystal?"
Draco wrinkled his nose as Prosper had done a few minutes ago and squinted down at the sphere.
"Erm…I…I'm seeing something…I see…the Grim! Death shall visit here…and…and…take away many! Ooooh!" said Draco in what he hoped was a spooky voice.
It seemed to be so, judging by the way Trelawney paled. "My dear boy – you obviously have The Sight! The…The Grim, you say?"
Draco nodded, fighting hard to keep his face oracle-like.
"I…I fear that – "
The effect was disrupted by the bell, thank god. Draco immediately seized his bag, made sure he had a good hold on Prosper, and dashed out of the classroom.
"Wait! My dear! Would you like to continue reading on Saturday?"
"No!" he yelled back. "Thanks, though!" Not.
He leaped down the stairs until he got to the dungeons. Screw dinner, he thought. I want a bath.
He snatched up some robes and boxers and set off again, leaving his bag. (He always took his wand, though – EVERYWHERE.)
He reached the Prefects' Bathroom.
"Absolvo Atis," he said. The door unlocked and open and he slipped inside, locking it and casting a few wards (just to be on the safe side).
He set the now-awake Prosper down on the tiled floor and turned on the water. He added some bubbles – one was so thick that he decided that once he was in the water he would put Prosper on it and see if it held.
Finally, the tub filled, Draco stripped down and laid his clothes to the side. He felt something press gently on his shin and saw Prosper, looking up at him with big puppy-dog eyes. He smiled. "Fine," he said.
He picked up the kitten and slid into the tub, keeping Prosper above the water until he could test his theory. He let himself float over to one of the foam-like, seemingly dense group of bubbles. He took Prosper (after placing a hand underneath the bubbles just in case) and placed him on the blue bubbles. The kitten stayed aloft for a few moments before sinking. Draco pulled him up just before his head went completely under.
Draco pulled the kitten up just in time to see the wet nose, covered in blue bubbles, twitch before Prosper sneezed and tumbled out of his hands. He caught hold of him just after he went completely under and brought him back up, chuckling at the startled and befuddled expression on his face.
He lifted Prosper up to face-level and looked into the emerald eyes. Prosper mewed and licked Draco's nose gently. Draco blinked.
Lupin said he knew who he was and his past – but he just "kissed" me…in his own fashion, but still…
He shivered. "Listen, I…I'm confused…and…here…soap."
Prosper sneezed again and curled up around Draco's neck. Draco had just gotten over his shock when he felt a little warm tongue nip at his neck.
Damn.
A/N R&R! Draco hugs this time….winkwink