Author's Note: Cats! Who'd have them? I have three, each one totally different and each one a person in their own right. Isis, the old man, is a pure bred Siamese who is eleven and Likes to snuggle up to anyone who sits still long enough. Sable, his daughter, is pure black and as regal as a queen, and as stand-offish. Tigress is a black and white perpetual kitten who riccochets off furniture and walls. chews up decorations and knocks over vases to eat the flowers. She also thinks she can walk on water if she practices often enough. Added to this is a toy poodle who thinks she is a cat and loves to play with Tigress, ususally managing to knock over furniture in the process.
This story is dedicated to the cat-astrophy I live in and to the BeSt, particularly Zarathustra46 who is always trying to correct the worst of my grammar and spelling, a never-ending task, I promise you. Hope you enjoy this as much as the first story.
Regards
Les
PS: Had to edit this story a bit so as to clear up a few points. The Wicked Bunhjiny hit me with her purple pen and it had to be done.
Puss in Boots….?
Harry lay on his favourite beam, high above the Great Hall, hidden from sight by the illusion that shrouded the upper reaches. Below, the hubbub of voices echoed and boomed, multiplying and fading before it became intolerable. He had watched a number of these September the first Welcoming feasts, seven as a student and five as a cat. This was his sixth as a cat and the largest crowd of first-years he could ever remember. Not that cats were good at counting. Harry might look like a black Abyssinian but inside he was still reasonably human, not mentally very old, certainly not twenty-three years old.
He could see Severus looking around, trying to see through the charmed ceiling and spot him but Harry knew the illusion was too good for that. Besides, Severus was being punished. He had told Harry he was getting fat! How dare he say such things! Harry was not fat, he was just… comfortably padded! Just because he was not all skin and bone like certain Potions Masters, didn't mean he was overweight. Just because he appreciated bowls of fresh cream and kipper snacks that Poppy and Minerva supplied didn't mean he was growing a paunch… did it?
Huffing a kitty sniff, he turned over slightly and let out a squeak as he nearly rolled off the beam. Maybe Severus was right? He gasped as he managed to regain his balance, then froze again as Minerva McGonagall read out a rather familiar name. Did she just say 'Snape'?
He rose to his paws, loped along the beam and used his claws to slow his descent down the Slytherin banner which deposited him on the lower beams. A few bounding leaps took him to the window frame whose curve deposited him onto a torch sconce and another leap allowed him to walk along the picture rail all the way to the head table where Severus sat rigidly. Leaping from the picture rail to the table, he walked regally along the edge and carefully stepped down into Severus' lap sending an interrogative miaow up as he turned around and made himself comfortable.
"Speaking to me again, are we? Or did curiosity fetch the cat?" Severus huffed, his fingers finding the spot on the back of Harry's neck that all the contorting in the world wouldn't let him scratch. Harry the cat melted into a purring, snuggling heap. All was forgiven.
oo0oo
The room was small and dark, the walls pressing in on him and something rustled close to his head. A faint line of light seemed blindingly bright against the pitch blackness, a shiver working down his spine as something scrabbled and banged close to his feet. Brilliant blinding light flooded his eyes and a huge ham-like hand grabbed at the scruff of his neck, hoisted him up in the air and spun him around until he felt ill. That stopped abruptly as the arcing weightlessness terminated at a hard wall, his small body slamming back first into the solid plasterboard.
A voice boomed over his head, the words slamming into sensitive ears and making little sense. Cold tile slapped him in the face as he sprawled his length, claws scrabbling for purchase without success as she spun away from the foot that lifted him, caving his ribs. He yelled for Severus to come and save him but the sound was lost as he was pushed through a gigantic doorway and grabbed around his broken ribs to be body slammed onto a table.
Suddenly the scene came into focus, revealing his cousin, aunt and uncle seated around the table with him trussed up on a serving plate in the middle of said table. His uncle held a huge carving knife which he plunged straight toward Harry's head.
Harry screamed.
The yowl woke him up, his small, black furred body shuddering and shaking under the impact of his stupid nightmare. His fur stood on end as his tail fluffed to twice its normal sleek width. His heart raced while he glanced around wildly, finally recognising his surroundings as the panic began subsiding. He was standing in his own basket in front of the fireplace in Severus' sitting room. His fluffy woollen blanket Hermione had knitted was rucked up at one end of the cane bed, his Mr Mousie at the other. It was late at night. The fire had burned down to embers and the mantle clock ticked away the hours at a comfortable, unchanging pace. There was no one in the rooms except Severus snoring lustily in the bedroom down the hall and a small spider spinning diligently in the far corner of the ceiling overhead.
Shivering in remembered terror, Harry carefully stepped out of his basket, then quickly bolted for the bedroom, pushing though the partially opened door to leap hastily onto the bed. The pressing of his cold nose against the back of Severus' neck barely disturbed the rhythmic snores but the unconscious Potions Master rolled his head forward, making a bare half-inch gap between him and the duvet. Gratefully, Harry slid into the dark, warm depths, and wormed his way quickly south, soon finding the comfortable nook in the bend of his roommate's knees. The confines of the warm bed smelled of lavender and Severus, both comforting scents which spelled out a safety Harry had rarely found before he had decided to become a cat. Purring deeply in his throat, he curled his long tail around his paws and settled in to sleep.
oo0oo
Trotting through the halls, Harry avoided the hurrying students as he made his way to the potions classroom. He had been out in the fresh air, watching the newest Gryffindors and Slytherins having their first flying lessons. It always made him laugh as half the class soared and half crashed ignobly. Occasionally Madam Hooch would let Harry ride on her broom with her, clinging onto the bristles and allowing the wind to play havoc with his fur.
Ron used to let him ride his broom but just lately Ron and Hermione had been too tied up with their own concerns. Hermione was having a baby. Harry wasn't sure how he felt about that but he wasn't sure how he could… Did he need to actually talk to someone, with his mouth, aloud? Maybe he should… could… would he dare… talk to Severus? Would Severus allow him to talk? After all, he was Severus' cat, not his friend. It was a grim dilemma. But Severus talked to him, didn't he? When they showered, Severus commented to him about this and that. Severus read him stories and excerpts from the newspapers and his Potions journals, sometimes even from books of poetry, not that either of them would actually admit to such a thing outside the safety of their rooms.
His dilemma was unresolved when he came across one of his favourite sunning perches, only to find it occupied by a small huddle of black school robes with a blue and bronze Ravenclaw crest half hidden in the folds. Propping, Harry sniffed delicately, then patted the shuddering pile of cloth with a curious paw. It merely sobbed again and Harry sat down to contemplate the mound, a curious, inquiring mew breaking out. A small, pinched face peered out of the cloth folds, tears streaking down a pale, wane face. Dark brown eyes blinked, making the black lashes spiked with spent tears.
"'Lo," the high pitched voice broke in the middle and a juicy sniff punctuated the slurred word.
Harry stepped forward delicately and snuffleed the tears, licking the child's chin ever so carefully. He was quite shocked to be gathered up in skinny young arms with a shuddery sigh burying itself in his fur. He allowed himself to be used as a comfort toy for a few minutes before squirming free and sitting down close enough to be company, yet far enough away to keep his fur dry.
The child sat up and smiled waterily, using a sleeve to wipe her nose. "Hello, Cat. Who do you belong to?"
Harry chirruped softly, making the child smile.
"You are beautiful, aren't you? I wanted a cat for my own but my father said I was too stupid to have any pet; too irresponsible." She pouted but did not start to cry again. "I was so excited about coming to Hogwarts, but then I got here and ever since, it has all gone so very wrong. No one likes me! Even my dorm mates won't talk to me. If I say anything then I get smacked down by the older years. I just want to go ho-ome!"
She began crying again and Harry couldn't help but press himself against her, smoothing his cheek against hers in an effort to comfort the sad child. His gentle purring seemed to help and eventually she managed to sit up and scrub her face dry again, giving another great shuddering sigh.
"I'm sorry; I got you all wet again. What time is it? I have to get to class. I have transfiguration next and I am just so terrible at it. I guess I really am a stupid blasted girl after all." She sniffed again and pushed her dark brown hair out of her eyes before carefully placing Harry on the ground and standing up decisively. "You take care of yourself, Cat, and I hope your owner knows how lucky they are to have a wonderful cat like you." She bent swiftly to drop a kiss on his head and swipe a long, swift stroke along the length of his back before hurrying off, bag bouncing on her hip.
Harry watched her go with a puzzled look, then gave a catty shrug and trotted off, back to the dungeons and a nice snooze in the Potions classroom.
oo0oo
It was seven thirty, with all of the marking done, everything up to date, the fire burning brightly and Severus settling in on his old worn sofa, grunting in satisfaction. He picked up the latest issue of Potions Today and rifled through it to the promised section on Vanadium and its uses in boiled and distilled potions. He had barely managed two sentences before the black nuisance leaped up onto the cushions and wrapped his tail around Severus' throat, plopping his furred length across both his lap and the page he was reading. Sighing deeply, Severus scratched an ear and lifted the journal up to rest it on top of Harry's barrel.
Harry miaowed indignantly at being used as a book rest, a volcanic wriggle upsetting the book as a long black paw reached around and tried to pad the letters off the page. The illustration of a wizard stirring a cauldron in a complicated 'S' and 'L' pattern glared furiously at the intrusion. Harry's black nose edged under the book and two deeply emerald eyes stared up at Severus until the Potions Master let out a deep, put-upon sigh and closed the journal.
"What is it?" Severus asked in long suffering tones.
There was a rush of magic and the weight in his lap suddenly became much greater as Harry Cat morphed into Harry Human. Surprised, Severus sat very still as the young man blinked and yawned, stretching in a very cat-like manner.
"Severus?" he said, his voice rusty from disuse and still carrying an underlying miaow. "I… Hermione is having a baby," he finally said, his tone puzzled and lost.
"Yes, Miss Granger, or I should say, Mrs Weasley is having a baby. Weasleys are known to do that with alarming frequency," Severus murmured, surprised that the young man would even attempt a conversation.
"They're changing, growing up…" His voice trailed off and Harry stared at the black buttons so close to his nose, a hand tentatively reaching out to pat them, one finger producing a very cat-like claw to tap the hard bone to see if it would move.
Severus covered the curious hand to refocus the young man's attention, knowing if Harry lost focus he would revert to the cat-form he preferred. "Yes, time has passed since the wedding and now they are growing a family of their own. That is how human development works."
"I'm not growing up at all. I am the same."
"You have gone into arrested development by your own choice, Harry. You chose to remain a young child in a cat's body, never changing, never growing, always free of responsibility and sorrow. It is your right after all you have had to be, see and do, and we support you in this," Severus told him gently, stroking his hair, noting that the famous lightening bold scar was fading to pale silver at last.
Harry mused on that thought for a long time, retaining his human form for far longer than he had for years. Finally he glanced up, emerald eyes curious and sad. "Do you want children, a family? Am I stopping your development, too?"
Stunned, Severus blinked, then smiled, a rare, unaffected smile of pleasure. "No, Harry, I am not hankering after a wife and children. And no, you are not stopping my misogynist ways. You are my family, my child, my companion and my friend. If or when I need more, I will tell you."
The silence that fell was comfortable but Severus knew his Harry had a few more questions as he was still in human form, biting at his lip as he had of old.
"Which child is the Snape? Is it your Snape?"
Severus chuckled. "Adamantia Lucretia Snape is my cousin's child, unfortunate brat that she is. Her grandfather, my Uncle Bastion, had designs on the Head of Family but my existence quashed those ambitions. He then bred a son in the hope that he would become my Heir but I made sure that fantasy died a quick death. His son, my cousin Hezekiah, tried to challenge me for the position just after the war when I was 'exposed as a Death Eater' and of course that ship of ambition foundered when I was exonerated. So poor little Adamantia caught the whole brunt of broken ambition by not being a boy and not being the next heir to the Family. She seems a bright enough child but woeful at wanded magic. Runs in the family, you know."
Harry chuckled and snuggled his head into the bony lap he was using as a pillow. A few moments later and Severus was again in possession of a lap full of black Abyssinian who purred and patted at the buttons, then settled to sleep with his paws waving in the air.
oo0oo
Flooing with Severus had grown easier with practice. Harry no longer managed to inhale a mouthful of soot each time. Instead, he burrowed deeply into Severus' over-robe and hid from the ash until the spinning stopped. This time, after poking his nose out of the deep recesses, he was grabbed by the chest and hoisted into the air. About to stiffen and spit, he relaxed when his vision was assaulted by red hair liberally laced with grey these days.
Molly Weasley held Harry Cat high, cooing and chuckling before folding him into her chest and stroking his whole head with good, firm strokes. Her heavy hand was thickly knuckled and gnarled of late but her stubby fingers still found that sweet spot behind his ears and scratched him wonderfully. Flopping bonelessly, Harry revelled in the attention as the old woman took him over to the long kitchen table and sat down with him firmly in her lap.
Severus carefully removed his travel cloak and laid it over the back of the sofa as he followed the pair into the cosy kitchen. Taking the indicated seat, he smirked as a pot of tea hovered over and poured him a cup, a plate and knife following to settle at his elbow. Molly continued to stroke his wretched cat for a few minutes more, then carefully arranged the half-drugged creature on the kitchen chair beside Severus'. Harry mewed slightly in protest but then settled to flatten his chest fur out as if he meant to be there in the first place. Severus merely smirked knowingly and ignored the flick of the long tail in his direction.
"And how have you been keeping yourself, Severus?" Molly asked as she rose and hurried over to the sideboard where an array of plates and trays were stacked, a cake server zipping over to her hands.
"Oh, quite well. Only four exploded cauldrons this week, must be a new record," Severus allowed as the stout woman turned back to the table and set a plate of mixed scones and cake before him. "Been baking?" He stated the obvious with a small smile of pleasure. Orange cake nudged ginger cake and jostled for position with date scones and some custard tart. A pat of butter and a pot of homemade damson jam scuttled over into easy reach.
Molly snorted softly as she reseated herself. "What else is there to do, now that the children are all grown and flown? Arthur does try to keep up but he gets so upset when his weight tips the scales." She signed deeply then flapped her hands at him. "Eat, eat, its all fresh. Double churned butter," she added coaxingly.
"You are wasted on your own," Severus smiled, surveying the bounty and carefully selecting a date scone. He added lashings of butter and was about to take a bite when a slim black paw edged toward the slice of ginger cake sitting on his plate. He rapped the offending claws with the flat of his knife.
Harry hissed.
"If you want to eat cake, Harry, you need to be human; cake does not agree with cats," Severus stated to the air and bit into his scone with a hum of sheer pleasure.
Magic stirred and Harry Human sat in the chair next to his Potions Master, nudging Severus' side with his shoulder.
Molly blinked and smiled delightedly then let out a shriek of outrage, quickly flinging her apron over the small human. The young man let out a cat yowl, then vanished down into cat-form with an outraged growl. Severus found his wand in his hand and his scone butter side down in his lap.
Outrage turned to fright as the apron exploded and quickly became shredded under the swiping of scimitar sharp claws. The cat was determined to fight free of the clinging material. As Severus jerked, his curse went wide and set the ceiling on fire. Concurrently, the cat sought the highest ground which happened to be his head. Molly ducked the curse, her own wand coming out and whirled wildly as Harry made it to the top of Severus' head, bloody furrows marking his passage. Twisting and yelping in an attempt to avoid the raking, Severus ducked, spilling the black body off his scalp and banging the plate of cake aside with his flailing hands. The teacup arced wide and sprayed its hot contents over cat and woman indiscriminately. Catty yowls and human squeals crescendo-ed as Molly attempted to fend off the skidding black demon who was scoring her polished table, scrabbling in an attempt to escape the butter now liberally coating fur and paws.
Harry soon spotted a haven and set out at a gallop, trying to escape the hail of crumbs and hexes. He launched at the wall of flowered cotton, scoring a full set of claws into Molly's heaving chest as he used her to spring off onto the dresser. Flying pastry and china followed his passage along the sideboard as he took a flying leap off the end, shot through the connecting door and burrowed into the swathes of black material that smelled of lavender, dungeons and Severus. Even his tail disappeared inside the heavy fabric, with only a constant litany of catty growls and bad language marking the hump where he hid and shivered.
Molly clutched her badly abused bosom as she stared in open mouthed horror at the wreckage of her perfectly ordered kitchen. Curse scars and cake crumbs marred every surface, including the ceiling. Tea and melted butter dripped off the end of the table taking sticky damson jam icebergs over the falls to land soggily on the floor. Severus slowly sat up, butter, jam and cream mashed in his hair and face, a set of bloody furrows down one cheek adding a festive red drip to the mess every few seconds. Severus and Molly stared at each other like survivors of a car wreck, then slowly turned to the main cause of the panic, still shivering and swearing from the depths of Severus' travel cloak.
"Holy Merlin preserve us! What in bloody hell was that?" Molly whispered hardly daring to break the fragile peace.
"That was The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Create-Chaos," Severus replied, a little more composedly, then winced as his cheek pulled. "What on earth possessed you to toss an apron over the brat?"
Molly snapped out of her daze straight into righteous indignation. "He was naked! Completely, bare bum naked! I can't be having naked young men sitting at my table for all the world and its dog to see!"
Severus glared, extinguishing the ceiling fire without thought as he straightened to his full height. "You stupid, prejudiced, small minded… provincial! Harry Potter finally, finally felt safe enough to come out of his cat form and partake of a tasty treat and what do you do? You leap on him! Terrifying him out of his wits! Scaring him into a panic attack into hiding and all you can say in defence of your totally inexcusable action is that the boy was naked! I hope your righteous indignation is enough to keep your conscience clear because I will not forgive your thoughtlessness so easily!"
Snapping his robes around him furiously, Severus strode through to the living-room, carefully gathered up his cloak with its shivering contents and Apparated without ceremony, leaving only a pair of crummy jammy footprints to mark his going.
oo0oo
Unwrapping Harry, Severus carefully Scourgified his fur, removing the debris of the disastrous visit as gently as he could. Harry was still shivering a little as he was placed carefully in his cat basket and covered with the blanket Granger had knitted for him. The horrid red and gold monstrosity seemed to calm Harry down as it hid him from sight.
Sighing, Severus wandered into the bathroom and snarled at the mirror when his own completely wrecked appearance drew comment from the blasted inanimate commentator. Blood and butter smeared one cheek, mixed ginger and orange cake crumbs liberally coated one side of his hair and, by its stickiness, a blob of jam had run down his collarbone and was in the process of heading down his chest. Muttering and grumbling, he began stripping off his clothes in preparation for taking yet another shower. The sting of the hot water drew an answering throb from his back and neck. By contorting carefully, Severus found two sets of claw marks running half way down his ribs and up into his hair. Shaking his head ruefully, he began to snigger as the past half hour came into focus with its complete chaos and frantic scrabbling. Recalling the look on Molly's face as Harry used her as a springboard, he was unable to restrain himself. He burst out laughing so hard he could hardly stand up.
A curious little chirrup from the doorway didn't stop his laughter. In fact it only made it worse as the cause of all the recent disasters pushed a curious little nose around the door. Even the graceful leap to the top of the bathroom counter added to the mirth until Severus had a stitch in his side from laughing so deeply. He managed to stumble out of the shower and wrap a towel around himself before he collapsed onto the commode with the hiccoughs. Harry strolled across the counter and head butted him gently, an interrogative meep making Severus laugh all over again.
"You are such a bloody nuisance!" the Potions Master gasped to his cat fondly as he gathered the silk black creature up and nuzzled his fur. "Glad you have recovered from your fright, silly thing. Merlin's beard, that was funny! Did you see the look on Molly's face when the butter went sailing into the wall? And then there was the jam… Who would have thought a jar of jam could spread that far? Amazing stuff, really! Ah, Harry, you are one small but potent disaster when you get moving, aren't you?"
Severus was still chuckling when he deposited the sleek black form on the bed and began hunting for something clean to wear. His head was in the wardrobe when a small voice made him jerk up and bang the back of it quite solidly.
"Did I make those scratches?"
Weighing the pros and cons, Severus rubbed his skull as he straightened and turned to see Harry kneeling on his bed, his long cat tail wrapped around his human knees, his cat ears cocked forward amongst his messy human hair, which was quite long again, Severus noted absently. "Indeed. Cats use their claws to gain traction when frightened; you are no different. I imagine the scratches in Molly's table are going to be a bitch to get out." He sniggered again.
Harry bowed his head and faded further toward the cat, then came back closer to half cat, half human, the tide of fur washing back to show more human skin. Lifting his hand, he shot long, curved, razor sharp and big claws from his fingertips and studied them carefully. "Wow, I never noticed them before," he mused, then automatically licked and cleaned them with a long, cat tongue before glancing up with big green eyes at Severus. "She was upset because I don't have clothes, wasn't she?"
Sighing, Severus took a seat on the bed and turned his head to study the young man who headbutted his shoulder gently. "To be honest, I had never really noticed the lack of clothes until Molly mentioned it," the Potions Master said ruefully, realising that something innocent had been broken by Molly's outraged reactions. The boy was indeed naked, except for a fine coating of cat fur.
"Can I have clothes? Should I have clothes?" Harry asked dubiously, looking down at himself with a cocked head.
"Perhaps. Animagii keep their clothing even when they transform so I don't see why not, although I would not recommend shoes as those claws of yours would wreck them in seconds."
Harry giggled, the noise turning back into a pur as he shrank and turned, lying on his back and dabbing at Severus' unfastened sleeve with a paddy paw.
"Damned cat," Severus muttered fondly as he stroked the sleek chest. Now where on Earth would one buy clothes for a sometimes cat?