Disclaimer: My name is not J. K Rowling and the Harry Potter characters aren't gay. Albus, Severus, Sirius, Remus, and Fred are all dead. These things would not be true if I owned Harry Potter.
Thanks for the reviews. Here's chapter 2 of My Darling Panthera:
Harry exited the bank and caught a glimpse of his best friend, Hermione Granger. He caught her eye and waved. Immediately, he regretted it, seeing the look on her face turn to one of intense fury. As she headed towards him with that angry look, he bolted, leaving Cole standing there confused. He sensed a friend of Harry's, or well, the girl should be a friend, but dripped of animosity at the moment. The two atmospheres batted each other and left him standing there, stunned. In this state, they disappeared from his view. After realizing that he just lost his Master, his eyes widened and he too ran. In the mean time a far distance away, Hermione had Harry cornered.
"YOU HAVE A WHAT?!" Hermione screamed.
"A-a Panthera?" Harry stuttered, looking like a dear in headlights.
"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO THE POOR THING?" Hermione shouted, before going into full lecture mode. "Panthera are human, don't you realize that? They have lives too. There was no need to enslave the poor dear to your unending servitude. Why did you do it?! For sex?! I realize that you want a partner that will never leave you Harry, but taking a Panthera into your care was OUT OF LINE! I can't BELIEVE you would-"
"SEX?!" Harry squealed. "Hermione, what on earth makes you say that?"
Hermione stared at him, shocked. "Don't you know that owning a Panthera will ultimately result in the two of you mating?"
"WHAT!?" Harry shouted. "Hermione, I don't even know what a Panthera IS, other than the brief description that Cole gave me yesterday."
The look on Hermione's face softened a little. "Pantheras are an ancient race. These half-human, half-panthers are born with healing and offensive powers to protect themselves and their mate. A Panthera is a very loyal being, sticking by their mates' side and defending them at all costs. They were known to bond with powerful wizards and were seen as..." Hermione scrunched her face in disgust. "pets… I suppose it wasn't QUITE so bad back in that time, for they were prized and treated very well. Those traditions are sadly gone, and now the sweet creatures, or what is left of the dying race, are used simply as amusements-"
"Get to the sex part!" Harry urged her.
Hermione sent him a fierce glare, before doing as he asked. "When a Panthera bonds to a wizard, they are ultimately attracted to said wizard. In fact, they would not bond with the wizard unless there was already an intense attraction. The initial bond is their way of choosing the mate forever closing off other potential partners." Here Hermione seems to get the murderous look back in her eyes as she glared at him. "The Panthera can never be with anyone else once he or she chooses a 'Master'. Now, when a wizard gains a Panthera, they often see this as being able to sleep with whoever they want, not having to worry about the Panthera leaving them. It's disgusting."
"But Hermione, I had no idea. I didn't plan on mating with him. He was just begging me after he saved my life and I agreed to take care of him. Honestly, I didn't mean anything by it."
Hermione sighed, realizing it wasn't entirely Harry's fault and lessened her glare. "You better take care of him Harry. The Dursleys is no suitable place to take care of a Panthera."
"I'm not going back to the Dursleys Hermione. They abused me for too long. I almost died last night. If it hadn't been for Cole rushing in to save me…"
Hermione suddenly lost her glare entirely and her eyes started watering. "Oh Harry, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize-"
"It's okay Hermione." Harry sighed, relieved that Hermione didn't look like she wanted to kill him anymore. Hermione ran the short distance towards him and Harry's eyes widened. Did she decide to kill him after all? He closed his eyes, thinking he was about to die, but instead found his arms full of sobbing bushy-haired girl. After overcoming his shock, he comforted his friend and returned her hug. "Now, can you tell me about this whole mating thing? I don't want Cole to er… rape me in my sleep or anything."
Hermione stopped crying and answered his question, withdrawing from the hug and rubbing her still-red eyes. "Oh don't worry about that, he won't try anything unless you want him to. He'll just be your friend until you are ready for more. Hopefully you will eventually want to be with him."
"Errr… Honestly, I have no idea if he's attracted to me. He's good looking and all I suppose, but I don't want to mate with a stranger, you know? I have to wait until I'm sure we both feel something before making that kind of commitment."
Hermione sighed. "Well, that's good enough I suppose. So, where are you going to live now that you aren't with the Dursleys?"
Harry grinned and held up a piece of paper. "I'm bringing Cole to live with me at the Potter Mansion. Apparently, the house on Godrics hollow was only there so that my parents could hide from Voldemort. They wanted to go somewhere smaller to hide. You and the Weasleys can come and stay for the summer if you'd like. I'd love the company."
"I'd love to stay with you!" Hermione squealed before throwing herself at Harry again in excitement. When she withdrew from him, she gave Harry a stern look. "If there are house-elves…"
"I'll pay them whatever they want and give them proper clothes and living arrangements, I promise."
Hermione nodded, and just then Cole came stumbling into view, and Harry realized with a drop of his stomach that he had left his new friend-pet-whatever. His angelic face was red from running and he panted his golden eyes wide and eager.
"Master,… are you… okay?" He growled at Hermione. "Is she hurting you?"
"No Cole, she's fine. Hermione and I were just… having a discussion."
Cole looked confused. "Then… why did she feel… so angry at you?"
"Oh, just a simple matter really. She's going to stay with us. Anyway, maybe she would like to join us shopping for you?"
Cole squealed in delight, his eyes lighting up. "You're taking me shopping already?"
Harry smiled. "Yup."
Cole threw himself at Harry. "Thank you Master. Come on, let's go, let's go, let's go!"
Harry laughed as Cole tugged on Harry's hand to drag him until he realized he had no idea where they were going. "Um, where are we going Master?"
Hermione smiled. "I know of a place we can go first to pick up some pet things first to get some toys and things…"
"LET'S GO!" Cole shouted happily.
Hermione led the way to a place called "Finest Products for Rare and Unique Pets". Harry and Hermione spilt up, looking for things Cole might like. Cole glued himself to Harry's arm and begged him for a collar he saw in a window. Harry called the store clerk over and asked to purchase the fancy black dragon-hide collar and asked for Coles name to be written on it in diamonds, which Cole loved and proceeded to cuddle Harry to death while the clerk told him it would be ready in ten minutes. Harry then went to Hermione, who pointed out a gigantic playground made of fancy cat houses filled with soft pillows and blankets. It also had what looked like a children's playhouse, with tubes to crawl through, nets, a slide, and a room with those plastic balls kids loved. Harry immediately added it to his purchase by speaking with the store clerk, causing Cole to cry with happiness. Harry looked around and bought a couple of other fancy things for Cole before returning to the store clerk and signing his name to transfer the money from his bank account. He then asked the store clerk a question.
"Do Pantheras need anything special for their diet?"
"Well," the store clerk said. "They prefer meats like steak and such as well as any sea food. Other than that, they can eat anything really. They also enjoy sweet things, such as cake and ice cream, like anyone really."
"Okay, thank you."
Harry left the store and carried his items in bags. The playground came in a small box, ready to be enlarged upon opening with a simple spell, as did the other large things he bought. He sat down with Hermione and Cole and ordered ice cream for all three of them, fastening the collar around Cole's neck. Cole hugged him and purred.
"Feed me Master!" he ordered, handing Harry his spoon.
"Um… okay." Harry blushed and spooned some ice cream for Cole and fed it to him. Cole took a long time savoring the treat and licked the spoon clean.
"AWWWWWWWWW!" Hermione squealed. "That's SO CUTE!"
Harry blushed even more before continuing to feed Cole his ice cream.
"Now I'm going to feed you!" he announced after he finished eating, taking Harry's spoon and holding out a spoonful of ice cream to Harry's mouth.
"No no, it's really not necessary." Harry replied blushing.
"Oh, but I insist." Cole said determined.
Harry gave up and ate the offered ice cream, feeling very awkward as Cole kept talking.
"You know, this is the longest time I've had a reason to stay in my human form."
"Uh… that's good I guess…" Harry said before another spoon of ice cream was shoved into his mouth.
"Mmmhmm." Cole said smiling.
After that, Harry and Hermione went grocery shopping, picking up several steaks, poultry, and all kinds of seafood. It took a lot of persuasion for Cole to not eat the food right out of the bag. After that, Harry said goodbye to Hermione as she promised to visit her after she got her parents' permission and Harry and Cole flooed to The Potter Mansion.
