Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way of it.

Messy Situation

Heading back to his rooms at around three Scorpius was feeling a bit better about life in general. Not a lot better, but he'd gotten through his second encounter with Potter and had done so with a great deal more class and maturity than earlier, thank Merlin. And to top it all off the man had given him a bag of cuttings after lunch, some plants he'd just happened to collect along the way while the idiot had been out walking in the Forbidden Forest like it was a child's park. The plants were an obvious bribe and peace offering, which he hadn't expected but appreciated none of less.

He'd planned on pretending nothing had happened anyway, so the bribe was like icing on the cake as far as he was concerned. He was even willing to give the man points for knowing exactly how to suck up to him.

Images of the man sucking a particular portion of his anatomy immediately came to mind, ruining his slight lift in mood completely as the blow job oriented thoughts refused to leave no matter what he tried to replace them with. Dammit, he was never drinking ever again and…and there was no way the alcohol hadn't effected his brain because there was just no way Albus Potter was as good in bed as his slightly disjointed memories told him the Gryffindor was.

Unfortunately the pep talk didn't work and Scorpius was still scowling as he opened the door and strolled into the hallway, stopping short when he got a look at the chaos and mess that greeted him. A neat freak to the core of his being Scorpius literally felt like he'd taken a hard blow to the chest as he took in the scattered papers, broken glass, pillow stuffing and other items strewn all over his parlor floor. And there, nearly smack dab in the middle of the room, was his stupid pet, who looked up at him with ink spots and some kind of brown liquid staining its poofy white fur.

Seeing red Scorpius marched over, items crinkling and breaking further under his shoes as he stepped on them. Reaching down he grabbed the feline by the back of its neck and held it up to eye level, his gaze fierce while the creature's blue eyes looked decidedly miserable.

Knowing his temper, and unable to justify harming something so much smaller and weaker than him, Scorpius took several deep, calming breaths and then turned on his heels and headed back the way he'd come.

Praying that his neighbor was in Scorpius pounded a fist on Albus's door, continuing to take deep breaths as he waited impatiently while the current ban of his existence whimpered in his other hand pathetically. And then the door opened and Scorpius tossed the furball in the Gryffindor's direction, Albus catching it easily. "It's yours now. Enjoy."

)

Blinking in shocked surprise Albus just stared as the blonde stomped back across the hallway and slammed the door behind him for good measure. The whole thing having come completely out of left field, it was a while before Albus even look down at what had been thrown at him, utterly shocked all over again to see what he was holding. Who in their right mind had given Scorpius a mini puffball for a pet? Who would give him a pet period, Albus added as he took in the state the poor creature was in.

Note to self, NEVER leave any living creature in Malfoy's care.

And shaking his head over the whole thing Albus gave the still whimpering creature a reassuring smile. "Better get you cleaned up since I have no idea what that brown stuff is. We can talk once you've had a bath."

Heading back inside Albus went straight to the bathroom, filling the sink with some warm water. That done he gently placed the shivering feline into said water and wetting a wash cloth went to work on the stained fur.

Yue, meanwhile, had come to see what Albus was up to and had naturally picked up on the foreign scent that certainly didn't belong in his territory. Especially when he hadn't invited Malfoy's animal over for a visit, the kneazle thought as he followed his nose and went about confronting the intruder by easily leaping onto the closed toilet lid and then onto the counter, heading directly over to the sink.

Taking in the mess sitting in his sink Yue cocked his head to the side and came to the immediate conclusion that this creature would never, even on its best day, pose any kind of threat to him or his person. He would have said it looked like a drowned rat, but he wouldn't insult a fellow feline by making that comparison unless it was called for.

Staring at the large creature watching him Scorpius's pet stayed right where he was, afraid to move least these strangers get mad at him too. Especially the one who was sort of like him, though this creature was very handsome and deadly looking. And big, he silently added. So much bigger than him.

"My name is Yue. What's your name?"

"Four-C."

"That's what Malfoy calls you?" He knew the Slytherin wasn't particularly fond of other sentient beings, but giving someone that crappy a name was just wrong on a number of levels in his books. Even a stupid girlie name was better than a number.

The smaller feline shook his head. "My person didn't give me a name. He calls me 'Cat', 'Hey, You' or 'Puffball' sometimes, but I don't think he means any of those to be my true name. Four-C is what the person who takes care of my mum called me."

A breeder, Yue assumed, one who referred to the kittens he or she bred by a code for identification purposes. Names were important things after all, and should never be given lightly. That rule was especially true when you were dealing with magical creatures, though the kneazle blood was terribly diluted in this one.

"What happened to your fur?"

Tears started to swim in the feline's eyes. "It…it was another creature. One who flew through the walls and sometimes was there and sometimes was like smoke. He made a terrible, terrible mess in our home and I tried to stop him but I couldn't and…and he kept laughing at me and saying I'd be in trouble and I am. My person thinks I made the mess but I didn't and now…and now he doesn't want me anymore."

Eyes narrowing Yue hissed a little, having a pretty good idea what was responsible for the mess the little cat had found himself in. Peeves just loved to cause trouble and messes and blame it on the pets that lived in Hogwarts. He was excellent when it came to framing them and they all hated the poltergeist with a united passion. Malfoy had obviously not put blocks around his rooms to keep Peeves out, but then the Slytherin had never had a pet before. Peeves hadn't been so dumb as to mess with the Potions teacher when he would be the obvious suspect with no one else to blame.

"Are…are you mad at me too?" He didn't smell anger, but the big cat had hissed.

"No. I just don't like Peeves. That I can't maul him angers me greatly."

He was sorry the kneazle couldn't maul the poltergeist too and said so.

Inclined to be polite now that he knew the situation, Yue relaxed his body and settled down on the counter to talk, curious to find out more about this animal that actually seemed to like the notoriously unlikable potions teacher.

"Are you two making friends then?" Albus asked Yue a short while later as he finished up his cleaning job.

Looking up at his person Yue wasn't sure you would call it that but nodded anyway. He was the dominant after all and therefore it was, unfortunately, his responsibility to look after the little submissive in his sink for as long as was necessary. Especially if Malfoy had dumped the feline on them for good, which wouldn't be good, Yue thought with a small frown of worry. The creature had already decided that Malfoy was his person. That meant something to any animal with kneazle blood in them.

Glad that the two were getting to know each other, Yue wasn't the most friendly of animals after all, Albus gently lifted the cat out of the sink and retrieving another towel carefully dried the creature off. When that was done the poor little guy looked a little like the end of a Q-tip, but at least it was mostly white now.

That done Albus informed Yue that he was going to change into his Animagi form and requested that the kneazle explain what that meant to their guest so that the cat didn't freak out and fall off the counter in surprise.

Turning his attention back to the cat, whose amusing appearance made his mouth twitch, Yue informed him that his person was going to change into an animal so that he could communicate with them better. Albus's animagi form was a bird too, and if he even thought about trying to pounce on him he would take him down hard since Albus was too soft hearted to do so.

Not wanting to be pounced on the white cat assured Yue that he wouldn't dream of pouncing on the feline's person. Especially when he watched the man become a bird, one that was definitely not the kind he would ever attempt to mess with. This was a bird of prey and those razor sharp talons made the man as deadly a creature as its kneazle.

"I'm going to explain things to him now." Yue informed the cat who really needed a name pronto. "You're too young to be understandable, especially since you're more cat than kneazle. Pardon our rudeness."

"You're so polite sometimes." Albus teased his kneazle, shifting his wings a little as he got more comfortable. He'd have preferred to perch, but needed to be close to Yue to hold a proper conversation.

Sniffing disdainfully Yue ignored the comment and gave his person a quick summary of what had happened and the fact that the creature thrusted upon them didn't even have a name so he couldn't even introduce them properly.

"He didn't even name it? That's low, even for him."

"He's a snake." Yue pointed out dryly. "They tend to stay low to the ground."

Albus couldn't laugh in his present form, but his voice was amused. "So do you think we should give him back to Malfoy because it's what he wants or because you don't like the idea of sharing your territory with another animal?"

"He's chosen Malfoy as his person. Unless he decides otherwise or the Slytherin becomes physically abusive I believe it would be best. He seems to think the man's willingness to kick a ball at him is a sign that Malfoy's warming up to him."

"Oh."

"Yes. We'll have to monitor the situation closely if Malfoy is willing to take him back."

Too true, unfortunately. Crap.

)

For all their sakes Albus opted not to try and return Scorpius's pet to the Slytherin right away. Instead he had Yue assure the cat that he would do his best to make that happen and then had put aside his intended work for the rest of the afternoon to play with his kneazle and their guest. Kneazles were very possessive of their people so he'd had to be careful about paying Yue slightly more attention, but the two felines had obviously had a lot of fun and were tuckered out when he left them in his room to eat their supper while he went to the Great Hall to get his and have a little talk with Scorpius.

Deliberately waiting until after the meal, no reason to spoil his appetite, Albus sadly cut back on his usual dessert intake so that he could follow after Scorpius when the other man got up to leave. The man didn't have much of a sweet tooth, which just went to show that the blonde did not have his head on straight when it came to the best parts of life.

"Malfoy, wait up."

Bracing for the possibility that Potter was going to demand that he take the cat back, which so wasn't going to happen, Scorpius stopped but gave the other man a look that made it clear he was still in one hell of a bad mood. "What?"

"You need to put shields around your rooms."

"What?"

"That's how Peeves got in to wreck your place. He likes to turn rooms upside down and blame the occupant's pets for it. Most people don't stop and think about whether or not their animals are actually capable of causing the damage." It went unsaid that Scorpius's cat was a ball of fluffy and was hardly capable of knocking something heavy over, much less tearing a room apart.

Disliking where this was going, especially since he'd been at a loss as to how the cat could cause so much damage earlier when he'd been cleaning up, Scorpius's stance stiffened even more, though his tone was considering when he demanded to know how Albus could know what had or hadn't occurred in his rooms earlier.

"Your cat told Yue and he told me while I was in my other form."

Interpreting that to mean Albus had appeared as a peregrine falcon at the time Scorpius smirked. "A little dangerous, that. Becoming a bird around two felines."

"Yours barely counts as half a feline." Albus shot back as he crossed his arms in front of him in a show of aggression. "And Yue would never hurt me. I'm his person. And that poor cat thinks you're his person so you better shape up and take him back ASAP, Malfoy or else."

Reacting to the man's body language Scorpius shot out his chin defiantly. "Or else what?"

"Or else I really will keep him and tell everyone that you named him 'Puffball' and that I took him away from you to spare it further abuse."

Eyes widening with insult Scorpius scowled. "I didn't name him that and I've never hurt him. He doesn't have a name. I just call him that sometimes."

"Good, because his name is Snow now."

"What? You can't name my pet for me!"

"I can since you couldn't be bothered to, and you gave him to me which makes him mine currently." Albus flashed a smirk that would have done any Slytherin parent proud. "And he likes it so that's what his name is now. Deal with it."

)

Snow had decided that he really liked Yue and Albus. They were very nice and had played with him lots and lots. Plus Albus had even given him a name, and he'd been wanting one of his very own for a very long time. His name was Snow and Albus was going to talk to his person and then everything would be alright. Yue thought it might take a little time before his person was willing to take him back but that would be okay so long as he got to stay where he was.

"Yue?"

"Yes?"

"If I stay here tonight can I sleep with you? I miss having someone to sleep with." He missed his mum and siblings a lot sometimes, especially at night when he was all alone in his little basket.

"When there isn't someone else in his bed I sleep with Albus." Yue informed him. "You may join us if you like. He won't mind." He could already tell that Albus would quite happily keep Snow if Malfoy refused to take him back. Which would be a little annoying, the kneazle thought to himself, but the cat knew he was in charge and so long as Snow respected that fact he was willing to share his space and person.

It wasn't like Snow would take up that much room anyway.

"Someone else sleeps here sometimes? You have two persons?"

"No. Albus in the only one I claim as mine. I meant…nevermind."

Pouting a little, he didn't like being kept in the dark, Snow decided not to push since it really didn't matter. "If someone else sleeps with him than where do you sleep?"

Ironically enough… "I have a bed, but it's not here." Albus had never brought a male back to this residence to mate with before, so that had never been an issue. The night before he'd been forced to sleep on one of the couch cushions since he'd had absolutely zero interest in being around if the two men occupying his usual bed had woken up and decided to do something other than sleep or kill each other.

"If need be Albus will make us a bed to sleep in, though that won't likely be an issue given how things stand between your person and mine." He knew all the teachers that worked at the school and Malfoy was the only one Albus would ever mate with drunk or sober. Not likely sober, Yue amended, though stranger things had happened.

"Our persons don't like each other very much, do they?"

"Not usually, no."

"That's too bad."

Yes and no, Yue thought as he got up and stretched a little. They were a hazard to each other's health whether they were friendly or at odds. Not that they probably couldn't learn to get along with each other properly, but he couldn't see Malfoy willingly bending his behavior enough to make that happen. And while Albus was pretty easygoing most of the time…Malfoy did know how to push the other man's buttons with alarming accuracy.

Hearing the front door being opened both felines immediately turned their attention in that direction and took off to greet Albus.