Cats to the Rescue – Chapter 4
"Oh, stupid cat," he heard an angry human voice growl and curled up even tighter. "I was merely trying to take your temperature," the voice explained, slowly becoming softer.
Harry felt himself being picked up and looked up, only to see an extremely tall man, clothed completely in black. Far away, there was a face, and it was looking down at him with an annoyed expression.
"I'm sorry, little one, it wasn't my intention to frighten you. You know me already; I'm Nero, the lynx," the man said softly as he sat down on the sofa and once more stuck the thermometer into Harry's ear.
"Thirty-nine point two; your fever has come down a degree. Are you feeling a bit better today?" the man queried as he lit the tip of his wand and coaxed Harry's mouth open to look at his throat.
"I feel much better, sir," Harry whispered, not aware of his voice merely telling the man "Miaow."
'Oh no, the medicine tastes so bad,' he thought, but knowing it helped immensely, he obediently sipped the potions from the bowls the man pressed against his mouth.
"You still need much rest," the man instructed him as he gently placed him back in the cat's den. He transformed into his lynx form and sat in front of Harry. "Harry, Felina and Herbifera went to work for a few hours; so I'm responsible for you at the moment. Do you see the door over there?"
"Yes," Harry replied, glad the man was back to his normal cat form.
"That's the door to my potions lab. I'll be there, brewing some more of the flu potion, but I'll leave the door open, and if you need me, you may call me. However, only call me if you feel worse or need me urgently. It'll take me an hour, and then I'll be back here in the room."
"All right," Harry replied wearily, wondering if the lynx's voice sounded hoarse or if it was just his impression.
HP
When Felina returned to the cat's den, Nero told her Harry's fever had broken and come down a degree.
"Oh, thank God," the older cat replied, sighing in relief as she turned to Harry. "Are you feeling better, sweetie?"
"Much better," Harry whispered back, lazily cleaning his paws.
"Harry, don't you think you could change back into your human form?" Felina enquired softly. "It would be so much easier."
"No," Harry replied, getting upset. 'Will they ever leave me in peace with that? I don't want to change back,' he thought, noticing a wave of heat overcome him as he began to panic.
"Don't let yourself get so upset, little one," Nero whispered softly, before he turned to Felina. "Let the boy stay as a cat for a while if that's what he wants."
"Severus, classes are going to resume in two weeks' time. What are we going to do with him? He needs to attend primary school or at least has to get some kind of schooling. You can't just leave him sleep for three years in his cat form, until he's going to attend Hogwarts," Herbifera threw in worriedly.
"Then for God's sake take him with you to your classes in his cat form. Knowing he is a natural Animagus, he'll surely enjoy Transfiguration classes," Nero sneered, before he let out a few harsh coughs and tiredly curled up to sleep.
"Are you feeling all right?" Felina queried in concern, throwing the lynx a sharp look.
"Of course," the black cat mumbled, already drifting off to sleep.
Feeling very grateful towards the lynx, Harry curled up right next to him, nestling deep into his warm, black fur. 'He seems to understand me the best,' he mused as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
HP
During the night, Nero was sleeping very restlessly. He was thrashing around, unconsciously kicking the other cats with his tail, and he was coughing every now and then.
"Oh no!" Felina groaned when Harry let out a painful yowl, after the lynx had kicked him again. "Could Nero have caught the flu from Harry?"
"I think so," Harry replied softly. "He has been coughing the whole day. I asked him if he was all right, and he told me he was, but he wasn't as gentle and cuddly tonight as he normally is."
"He hardly ate anything for dinner," Herbifera threw in. "Shall I transform and take his temperature?"
"Please do, Pomona, if you're awake enough to transform. I'm afraid I don't have the energy right now," Felina replied, throwing Nero a concerned look.
With that, the marmalade cat stepped out of the den and transformed into a plump woman with wild, grey hair, causing Harry to chuckle. 'I had imagined her in a totally different way, perhaps with red hair like in her cat form,' he mused.
"Harry, are you all right?" Felina asked in concern when his chuckles turned into several harsh coughs.
"Yes, I'm fine," Harry whispered and scrambled to his feet to go and drink some water as he suddenly felt very thirsty.
"Thirty-nine point eight," Pomona declared after taking the lynx's temperature. "I'm going to give him the flu potion and the fever reducer, all right, Felina?"
Felina let out a weak, "Miaow," causing Pomona to throw her a concerned look and put a hand on her back.
"You feel very hot, too, Felina. Well, let me take your temperature as well, just to be sure. You're not behaving your usual self." Ignoring her colleague's weak protests, Pomona gently stuck the thermometer into Felina's ear, frowning when she pulled it out. "You're hardly any better. Now Harry, it's your turn. Thank God, at least your fever is coming down nicely. Nevertheless, you'll have to take your potions as well." With that, the woman walked over to a shelf, on which her colleague had placed many phials of the two potions they would need.
"Apparently he knew we were all going to be sick," Pomona muttered as she filled the liquid into small bowls to feed them to her colleagues and Harry. "I just hope I'll make it until one of you gets better," she added, before she gulped down one of each potion herself.
'I'm already better,' Harry thought anxiously. 'If they're all ill tomorrow, I'll have to help them.' With that, he drifted off into a much needed healing sleep, not hearing the other cats cough and sneeze continuously.
When he woke up in the morning, he felt very hot. He lazily opened his eyes, seeing that the two female cats were curled up on each side of him, apparently trying to get warm through the body contact since they were both slightly shivering. Nero was curled up on the other side of the den, and Harry noticed terrified that his tail threatened to slip into the fireplace.
'Oh no!' Harry thought. 'I have to do something about it.' He scrambled onto his paws, feeling a bit dizzy at first, but after a few seconds, he stepped over to the lynx, gently trying to grasp his tail with his front paws in an attempt to pull him away from the fireplace. However, the cat was much too large, and Harry still felt weak from his illness, so he decided to wake him up instead. He gently put a paw on the lynx's back and whispered, "Nero, wake up please, you're going to burn your tail."
The lynx lazily opened his eyes, shivering violently as he slightly moved his body away from the fireplace. "Are you feeling better?" he asked, looking at Harry from glassy, black eyes.
"I feel much better, but I'm afraid everyone else is ill. Shall I give all of you the medicine?"
"I need to transform, so I can check on all of you," Nero mumbled hoarsely, making a weak attempt to scramble onto his legs.
"No, please don't," Harry replied in concern. "I don't think you're well enough to change. I can try to fetch the potions for you."
"You won't be able to do that in your cat form. You can call Cicero, my house-elf, or Hamish, Minerva's house-elf. I'm not sure if they understand cat's talk though," Nero croaked, coughing violently.
'House-elves?' Harry thought, sceptically. 'Do house-elves really exist? He seems to be very ill; maybe he's delirious. No, as much as I hate it, I have to change back into my human form to check on the three other cats. They always changed back to help me.'
He stepped out of the den on the floor of what seemed to be a living room, surrounded with huge, white bookshelves that covered most part of the stone walls, only interrupted by several large windows, through which the rays of the early morning sun streamed into the room.
'I want to... no, I don't want to, but I have to... I need to change back into my human form,' he thought feverishly, hoping to be able to transform. Only instants later, he felt himself being a boy again. However, his head exploded in pain, and he felt much worse than he had felt earlier while being in his cat form.
'All right, I only have to take their temperatures and make them drink the potions. Then I can try to change back,' he mused as he made a few unsteady steps towards the table, reaching for the thermometer.
He crawled back into the den, crouching in front of Nero, and tried to stick the thermometer into the large cat's ear, causing the lynx to open his eyes and jerk away, terrified.
Harry wide-eyed watched the cat jerk back, letting out a few horrified, "Miaow," before he succumbed to a coughing fit.
"Easy, Nero," Harry said helplessly, watching as the two other cats, who had woken up by the commotion, spoke to the lynx in soothing voices. 'Strange; when I was a cat, I could understand them; now, all I hear is "Miaow",' he mused as he once more tried to take the lynx's temperature.
"Forty point six," he read from the display, remembering his own fever had been as high when he had felt the worst during the first few days. He turned to Herbifera and finally to Felina, sighing in exasperation as he noticed they were all spiking a high fever.
He carefully prepared the potions like he had watched the others do during the last few days, glad that each of the cats drank their potions without complaining. 'Except for the lynx, they probably haven't even noticed I changed back into my human form,' Harry mused as he cleaned the bowls and replaced them on the shelf.
The thought, 'I should take the potion too,' crossed his mind, but he dismissed it for the moment, feverishly trying to come up with something to make the three cats feel better, seeing they were lying in the den, apathetically. 'Oh, I know. A cold towel,' he thought, suddenly remembering the cold towel the lynx had placed on his neck had made him feel much better. He hesitantly explored his surroundings, until he found the bathroom, and finally returned to the den with three wet towels, which he placed on the necks of each of the cats, before he changed back into his cat form and let himself sink onto the soft ground.
Harry exhaustedly curled up next to the lynx, noticing that he had a splitting headache. Unfortunately, his headache didn't recede but only intensified during the day. Every few hours, Harry transformed into his human form and looked after the three cats, feeling very sorry they had caught the flu from him. In the evening, he lay down next to Nero, letting out a relieved sigh as his achy head came to lie on the soft ground.
"Are you feeling worse, little one?" Nero asked in concern, observing Harry from his obsidian eyes that were still feverishly glazed over.
Harry merely let out a small moan, curling up tightly against the larger cat, craving the warmth of his thick fur.
"Let's sleep a bit more. Maybe later on, one of us will feel well enough to transform," Nero said soothingly, gently curling up around the kitten.
The golden rays of the early morning sun were already flooding the room, when the four cats were pulled out of their dreams by a loud voice.
tbc...
Thank you so much for your kind reviews!
I'm not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes or help me to correct them.
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.