Haja

Chapter 3

A/N: '''cat-speak'''

The first thing to register was the quiet. Then the warmth that was soothing his body. It wasn't his bed at Privet Drive, that was for certain. That bed was too cold when it was winter, and too hot in the summer. It had been too small for a long time and the mattress was hard in places where the springs had worked their way through the padding.

This bed felt safe.

He stretched and immediately stopped and mewed in pain. That hurt!

"So. You're finally awake, I see."

Harry lifted his head and blinked slowly, looking up… and up… and up.

Above him, somehow seeming gigantic, was Professor Snape. Without thought, his eyes dilated to their widest point, the fur began to stand up along the ridge of his back, and his ears flattened against his skull. He tried to stand up but found his legs unable to follow those mental directions.

Snape peered down at him and a sneering smile played at his lips. "You're safe here, Potter. Although, I don't suppose it feels that way to you yet. You'll have to get the animal instincts under control in order to calm yourself." He continued to stare down at him until Harry felt the fur begin to lay down a bit.

"I have something here for you to eat, but I doubt if you can stand long enough for it. Will you allow me to feed you without trying to tear my fingers off?"

Harry stared back up at the man. The human inside was having a difficult time hearing Snape ask him for permission to do anything. The cat felt the gnawing hunger in his belly and could smell the food that Snape spoke of.

Snape's face came closer and Harry saw that he was holding a small plate in his hand. He scooped up a bit of what was on it with the tip of his index finger and brought it close to Harry's face. Harry backed himself up against the side of the box he was in until he could go no further. A warning hiss came spitting out of his mouth.

Snape sighed. "Potter… Harry… I will not harm you. I know that you can understand me. You have not been in this form long enough to lose what little human mind you possess."

Harry hissed again at the insult. The finger with the tantalizing aroma came closer again and he tentatively stretched his neck out, nose twitching. A pink tongue flicked out and tasted the bit of food.

His body protested the movement, but he moved forward to get closer and lick the finger. When the food was gone the finger went to the plate and returned with another small bite. This time, Harry licked it eagerly. Snape let him eat several bites before Harry saw a dropper add something to the food on the finger. He sniffed at the food and gave a plaintive mew.

"Yes. It's a minute amount of Dreamless Sleep, mixed with Skelegro Potion. You need the rest and your body needs many healing agents. I can only give one at a time, so this time it's for your fractured leg, skull, and ribs. I would appreciate it if you did not force me to restrain you in order to administer it. You will be much more comfortable if you cooperate."

It took Harry several minutes to process the words that had been spoken. For some reason, it was difficult to make sense of them. Finally, he managed to understand that the food had something in it that would help him get better.

He licked the last of the offered food off Snape's finger. Within a few minutes he felt his head grow too heavy to hold up, his eyes too heavy to keep open. Curling his aching body up as best as he could, he laid back down. A soft blanket under him made it easy to get comfortable. He was dozing off when he felt the blanket pulled over him and tucked gently. That seemed odd, that Snape would tuck him in. Maybe the man liked cats better than he liked students…

*******

Severus looked down at the sleeping black cat with narrowed eyes. He was at once aggravated and angry at the brat, and then overcome with an intense feeling of protectiveness. That made him feel even more aggravated and irate. It was annoying to find out that all your perceptions about someone had been wrong. Not simply wrong, but phenomenally, extraordinarily, wrong.

The brat of Lily Evans-Potter and James Potter had been a thorn in his side for as long as he had existed. Lily was supposed to have chosen him over Potter. He was certain that she would have, too, if he had not made a grievous error in judgement and taken the Dark Mark the day he turned seventeen. He had wanted power and prestige and had foolishly believed that Lily would see him as powerful and prestigious if he made a vow to such a great cause.

Her tearful ranting about what he had done had caused him to see things in a totally different light, but it was too late. In a spat of defensiveness, he had said some hurtful things to her. He regretted them as soon as they came out of his mouth and no amount of back-clapping from his fellow Slytherins could erase the weight that settled on his heart when he saw the pain in her emerald eyes.

After he had begged Dumbledore for forgiveness and for a way out, she had forgiven him too. But not enough to take him back as a possible husband. Bitterness had filled the place she had held in his heart; that, and resentment of James Potter. That resentment had spilled over onto the son they had, even though that son had not been old enough to remember them after they were killed. He had always assumed that Lily's sister had treated Harry like a young prince. Surely she had been aware that he had survived the attack that had killed the parents. Surely she realized that the child must be extraordinary because of that.

Now, to find out that not only did she not dote on him, but that she had treated him with neglect and abuse. If she had not done any of the horrifying acts herself, she had certainly turned a blind eye to them.

The cousin, Dudley, had pleaded youthful ignorance when confronted with the wrath of the Potions Master. Severus would have gladly hexed him into the next year, but had been far more concerned with the bedraggled cat that Arabella Figg had identified as Harry Potter.

The old woman had activated the alarm that she always carried. She had been entrusted as one of the watchers since Harry Potter had been sent to live with his only blood relative. Over the years she had reported minor incidents that may have been abuse. But once Harry was at school he never complained. He asked to be able to go to the Burrow instead, but the wards provided by staying with his mother's sister were strong enough to protect him where the Burrow's was not. His protests were seen as nothing more than the desire to spend as much time with his best friends rather than his Muggle relatives.

Severus had already been in Little Whinging, having been sent by Albus when the perimeter alarms on Privet drive indicated that Harry had left the house and its surrounding warded field. He had been angry to have been sent. All the other teachers who were part of the Order were out of the country on holiday. Even Minerva McGonagall was in Ireland with her sister. He was extremely put out that his own summer work was interrupted by the Brat Who Lived. He had thought that Potter was most likely off gallivanting without a care that he might inconvenience someone.

He had walked the entire neighborhood and scanned the residence at Number 4 Privet Drive. He had resorted to a Point-Me spell to locate Potter, and had arrived at the pond as Arabella was blowing on the face of the cat she had wrapped in her shawl. The cat was soaking wet and appeared lifeless. She had seen him and immediately told him that the cat was Harry and that his cousin Dudley and the other two boys had been trying to drown him.

Severus had only held himself back from hexing the boys by remembering that they were Muggles. Dudley's friends looked as confused as they did sorry as they listened to the batty old woman tell the man in flowing black robes that the cat they had been torturing was really a boy they knew as Harry.

Severus had settled for an Obliviate and sent the boys on their way with bad cases of poison ivy. Then he had taken the cat from Arabella and spelled it to get rid of the water in its lungs. The tiny creature took a stuttering breath and Severus conjured a box to lay him in, swaddled in the shawl.

The two of them had hurried back to her house where Severus floo'd Albus of their impending arrival. Arabella had not stopped muttering about how sorry she was for not insisting how much danger Harry was in with the Dursleys. Severus had listened with half an ear, mainly focused on the small black cat and its difficulty in breathing. He did another gentle spell to relieve the congested lungs. As he did so, he saw the white fur on the cats' forehead. Touching it, smoothing it flat from its wet spikes, he saw that it was in the exact shape of the scar on Potter forehead. In his mind there was no doubt that Potter had somehow learned the animagus spell and had transformed himself into this cat.

********

Albus contacted Minerva, since she was a cat animagus. She came back to Hogwarts and Severus found himself with a dungeon full of people gathered around the cats' box. Albus and Minerva had been followed by Poppy and Hagrid. Albus had contacted Molly and Arthur Weasley to see if Ron and Hermione had known about the animagus work Harry had been doing.

Molly and Arthur had floo'd to Hogwarts with the two best friends of Harry Potter and Molly had not ceased her fussing about them undertaking the study of becoming animagi without adult supervision. Ron and Hermione were closed-mouthed after admitting that they had all been working on it.

Severus stood close to the box, unwilling to let them all crowd him out. "He is easily frightened. I've given him food laced with Skelegro and Dreamless Sleep, but I cannot vouch for the effectiveness of the amount I used."

Hermione looked up at him. "He had not managed the full transformation when school was out… none of us had. We knew his animal had vertically slitted pupils and we all thought that he would be a snake of some kind."

Severus nodded, "Because of his ability to speak Parseltongue?"

"Yes. We thought that would be the most likely and the most obvious."

Molly asked in an exasperated tone, "But why didn't you lot ask for help? Why were you doing it on your own? You could have been injured like Harry was! What if he had not been found in time!"

Both Ron and Hermione looked down in guilt but then Ron raised his head to look at Albus. "Harry was afraid."

All the adults looked at him in surprise and Ron amended, "Not afraid in the usual sort of way… He was afraid because of all the secrets that always seem to be kept from him. He was afraid because he felt as if that would cause him to be unable to prepare to fight Vol--- You Know Who."

Molly began another angry burst that was silenced by Albus's raised hand. The white-haired wizard looked sad as he asked, "Harry feels as if secrets are being kept from him?"

Ron gave his parents a hesitant look and then exchanged a look with Hermione. After she gave him a nod, he continued. "He knows that he has to be the one to kill the other. But he also knows that at any given time he hasn't had all the information to do it with. He called it some Muggle term of 'not being in the loop'. We all agreed and we all made a pact to study how to become animaguses. We knew that if Harry's dad and the Marauders could do it, we could do it too. We found a book in the library at Grimmauld Place last year and we began to work on it then."

He looked down at the slumbering cat. "He --- we--- just wanted a secret that was ours alone, and a weapon that no one would know about except for the three of us."

Hermione spoke up. "None of us expected to make a full transformation until after we each hit our majority. But Harry is a powerful wizard. And he must have had a powerful need for the transformation."

Severus intoned darkly, "Being chased by three hulking Muggles who are 'Harry Hunting' could produce such a powerful need."

The two teens paled and it was clear that they had heard the term before.

Minerva had remained quiet during the conversation and now she asked, "Had the three of you studied the theory of reverse transformation yet?"

Ron and Hermione shook their heads and Hermione answered, "We were meditating on our form. We were only to the part where we attempt to realize what the form will be."

The teacher shook her head. "The reverse, transforming back, from the animal form to human, is the most difficult. It should never be attempted before the other theories are fully understood and have become ingrained. While transforming from a human to an animal takes a great deal of magic, it is in the human mind that it takes place. The reverse is extremely difficult, as the change must come from what is essentially the mind of an animal." She looked down at the cat. "The longer it is before the reverse is accomplished, the more difficult it will be."

Snape added quietly, "And if the transformation was made in a moment of fear, and the longer he remains in this form, it will become more difficult to change."

Minerva nodded. "Next time he awakens, I need to be here."

"That should be soon." Snape looked around at the roomful of people. "You may stay, if you like. I can't help but believe that an audience would be counterproductive."

Minerva nodded as Ron and Hermione protested. Albus herded them and the adult Weasley's to the door , followed by Poppy and Hagrid.

Albus looked back over his shoulder at Minerva and Severus. "Let me know how it goes."

Severus nodded. When they had gone he warded the door locked and silenced against any eavesdroppers.

Minerva transformed smoothly into her tabby animagus and leaped up on the hearth and into the box. She settled down next to Harry and curled her front paws under herself.

Severus peered down for a moment. "He should be healed enough to attempt the reverse. But only a time or two. I haven't been able to give him any other healing supplements yet and he will likely feel very tired still." The tabby blinked up at him in understanding and Severus nodded before going back to his lab to mix the next batch of potion laced food.

********

When the smaller cat began to stir, Minerva started a low comforting purr. The sleepy green eyes blinked open and then dilated widely at seeing the cat next to him. Minerva gave a quiet meow and blinked her own eyes slowly, remaining relaxed to show Harry that she wasn't a threat.

''' Harry, it's me, Professor McGonagall.'''

Harry's eyes lost a little of the blackness so that the green irises showed around the rims. His plaintive meow made her lift a paw and lay it gently on one of his.

'''Professor, I'm a cat…'''

'''Yes, a very fine cat, too. But now it is time for you to transform back into yourself. '''

'''I tried… when Dudley put me in the bag, I tried. But I couldn't.'''

'''Tell me what you remember of the theory and the spell you have to think in order to transform.'''

Harry closed his eyes and shuddered as he remembered being in the backpack and the events that followed.

'''Harry. You must focus. You have been in this form for too long as it is. You must try.'''

He obediently reviewed the theory of the Animagus transformation and then repeated the spells both for the initial change and for the reversal. Minerva could see it when he gathered himself up to attempt the change. His fur rippled and his whiskers twitched madly. Too late, she remembered that they were in a box atop a table. She leaped out and transformed back into her human form and looked around for Harry. She sighed when she saw that he was still a black cat inside the box.

"It's alright, Harry," she soothed, when Harry looked up with a forlorn mew. "Professor Snape is getting you something to eat. Perhaps you will feel like trying again after that."

Severus walked back into the room just then and set a plate down on the floor. "You need exercise, as well. Your bones have healed enough to be able to walk. The food has some additional potion for healing any internal bruising."

When Harry didn't make a move to get up, he reached in and scooped him up. For a moment, his face registered surprise before he masked it. Gentling his hold, he put the cat down on the floor. "Whether you are back to yourself or not, the next meal will have some nutritional supplements. You are entirely too thin."

'''I ate what I was given. It wasn't my fault if it wasn't enough.'''

Minerva knelt down and ran a hand along the cat's back, feeling the bones of the knobby spine and the thin ribs under the fur. Harry was like a thin fur coat over a frame of wire. There was no padding of fat or muscle.

"Harry, have your relatives always neglected you or is it a recent development?" She secretly hoped that it was a recent development, because if the boy had been mistreated for as long as she had been his Head of House, she had seriously missed the signs.

Harry responded by walking over to the hearth and settling himself on the rug in front of the fire. He closed his eyes, pretending that the two professors were not waiting for an answer.

The two humans walked away toward the door and talked in whispers. Harry meowed loudly, '''I know you're talking about me. I know you're thinking I've made a mess of things again.'''

Minerva called out, "Rest well, Harry. Try the retransformation again when you wake up." The door closed softly behind her.

He dozed there in the warmth of the flames, feeling a sense of peace that didn't match any he had ever felt before. He closed his eyes, feeling his head nod forward as he drifted. Perhaps being a cat wasn't so bad, especially if Dudley wasn't around. After all, no one would expect a cat to defeat Voldemort…

He felt himself lifted up and he twisted violently to get away, reacting with a hiss and claws slashing out.

"Harry, I am only moving you back to the plate. You must eat." Severus had let go of him quickly when he saw how the touch had startled him.

Harry looked up at the man and then at the plate that was still on the floor where Severus had set it. He slowly relaxed and the ridge of fur along his back slowly settled back against his body. The twisting action had aggravated his injuries again, but he limped slowly over to the plate and then settled down low to the floor to pick at the morsels Snape had prepared for him. He could taste the potion in the food, but he couldn't spare the energy to protest. He ate what he could, but it was only a few bites before he was too full.

Severus didn't insist, only removed the plate when Harry moved away from it and began to wash a paw. He meowed softly at the taste on his fur. The smell of the pond water was all over him, and he didn't know how to take care of it. Licking it seemed like the thing to do, but the effort alone was beyond him and the taste was making him gag. He finally decided it wasn't worth it.

He curled back up on the rug and tucked his nose under the end of his tail. The potion in the food was making him dizzy and he thought it might be making him hallucinate as well. What else could explain the massive furred body that was now curled warmly around him, and the rough pink tongue that was gently cleaning him with long deliberate strokes?

********

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews and for putting this story on alerts. I've missed you all and I'm glad I'm back!

I'll also try to get the yahoo group back on track and more active. Any comments or questions about my work? Feel free to post them there!

Tonight … Half-Blood Prince … midnight … trying to talk the hubby into taking a nap so he can go too! The kids are almost rabid with wanting to go! Trying to decide if we'll go tonight or wait for Friday. 