Harry's eyes widened once he recognized the voice.
'Dumbledore! The others were right! He-he did just want me dead!'
A/N: This is a fun chapter I believe, well, after the first sadness. More of Harry running around the castle, him and Luna doing funny stuff, and finally Ron bashing!
ALSO: DO NOT DENY THIS. DRACO AND JACOB, NAKED IN A BED TOGETHER, IS THE HOTTEST THING EVER!(random thing is random...)
Harry ran, his paws carrying him lightly over the stone of the dungeon, stray pieces of gravel scratching at the pads of his paws but he didn't care. He was sure it was fear that was making him run as fast as he was, but he couldn't be sure, it could have been the betrayal he felt. He slowed only a bit when he realized he didn't know exactly where to go, before a familiar scent hit his nose.
'Dragon's blood! And Basilisk skin! It must be this way!' He thought, turning another corner before running into a painting.
"Woah, what's the hurry little one?" Harry blinked before looking up and seeing Salazar Slytherin.
"Need to talk to Snape! Followed the scent of Dragon and Basilisk here! It's urgent!" Harry wailed before transforming back, wondering how weird it was for Slytherin to be talk to a cat.
"Urgent? What is it?"
"I-I…" Harry couldn't finish before the portrait opened, Harry running to the person who just walked out.
"Potter? What the hell?" Snape looked down at the crying teen in confusion. Harry was trembling now, trying to hold back more tears.
"I-I saw Draco! He was w-with Dumbledore!" Harry cried. "Th-they were talking about killing me!" The teen didn't have to say more as the professor pulled him into the room, the portrait shutting behind them. He lead Harry over to the couch, setting the teen down gently before the fireplace burst into green flames, Hedwig flying through them.
"What on earth is going on? Vipera said Harry was in distress! What did you do!" She hooted, flying over to Harry and landing on his lap. "Come on kit, don't cry, it's alright." She cooed.
"I did nothing you stupid owl it was Draco." Snape snarled, walking over to cupboard and searching through it, pulling out three vials of potions. Hedwig was saying something to Harry in a hushed voice, it sounded as if she was explaining something to him. He was nodding every now and then, giving the occasional head shake. The tears had finally stopped, as did the light sobs as he hugged the owl gently.
"Take these." Snape said before handing Harry the vials. He looked at them curiously before taking each one. "They're just calming droughts."
"Thank you." Hedwig said for her kit. "Now Harry, can you explain what happened?" She asked gently.
As Harry went on explaining to the owl, Snape flooed Sirius and Remus, explaining to them what happened, and noticing a little boy sitting on Remus' lap. He chose not to comment though, because Harry would probably hear, and knowing the two Marauders, they wanted to keep it secret for a bit longer.
"Don't worry kit, we'll keep you safe." Hedwig promised as Snape walked over again.
"Sleep will do him some good." Is all he said before walking away. Harry yawned and curled up on the couch, finally realizing how tired he actually was. It wasn't long before sleep claimed him, remembering only a few seconds before to transform into his feline form in case Dumbledore decided he was going to drop by.
"SLYTHERIN!"
Harry yawned as the last few first years were sorted out, his tail waving calmly behind him. The night had passed with no trouble, same as the day. Neville and Minerva came over early, roaming the castle with him as they waited for the others. Hermione chose to kept the professor with her because it would seem less suspicious, her already having a cat, maybe she got another one to keep Crookshanks company? Blaise and Luna talked on the train, deciding that it would be more normal for her to keep a fox, switching so that Harry would be staying with Blaise. All three 'familiars' were now sitting behind the teachers at the front table, waiting to see who the new teachers would be.
"And now, as you all may have noticed, we are missing our Transfiguration teacher, as well as Defense." Dumbledore started. "And here they come now!" everyone looked to the entrance to the great hall as three people walked in. Harry's tail twitched excitedly as he recognized one of them.
'Charlie!' He started to purr as Charlie walked passed him, petting his head as he sat down next to Snape, the other two though, Harry didn't know and couldn't tell who they were.
"Charlie Weasley will be taking over for Defense against the Dark Arts, while James and Bill shall be taking over for Transfiguration." Harry sat up at the names, McGonagall looking down at the two teachers. Said teachers looked back at the two and winked. If Harry could hug them, he would have as he recognized the familiar grins on the two. He could hear a very sad sounding sigh from Snape as he too figured out who the strangers were. Harry stifled a purr of amusement before shaking his head. He stretched before standing up, walking up to the space between Charlie and Snape and purring.
"Do you ever feed this poor cat Severus? He seems nothing but skin and bones!" Charlie teased as he gave Harry a small piece of chicken, laughing as the purring grew louder. "I see he has friends as well, student's familiars?"
"Yes, and just as annoying as the students…" Snape growled. Harry looked up at the man before doing his best impression of a kicked puppy before resting his head on the potion master's lap, being shoved away almost immediately. Harry growled lightly, setting his head back on his lap again, this time nipping at the hand that dared to try and move him. The pattern continued for a few more minutes before the professor finally gave up, Harry giving a purr of satisfaction as the fox and cat behind them snickered.
Charlie chuckled before looking down the table at the two Transfiguration professors. "I think I need to have a talk with James and Bill…Want to come with little guy?" He asked the leopard, who nodded and stood back up, McGonagall taking his place in annoying Snape by leaping onto his lap and curling up. As the Defense professor and Harry left, Dumbledore looked over to the cat. McGonagall was thankful to Hermione for charming her fur to be a pure white instead of the usual tabby, it would have given her away in a heartbeat.
"It seems the animals really like you Severus."
"No, they must like the wolfsbane potion smell. I've been brewing it."
"I knew you two would find a way to get in here…how are you doing it?" Charlie demanded. The four of them were in his quarters, Harry cuddled against Fred, while George sat next to them grinning.
"We made a new joke, decided to test it out on ourselves-"
"And decided that we need to keep an eye on our little brother." Fred finished the sentence, petting Harry's head lightly. Harry pouted but didn't move to get Fred to stop. "Really Charlie, it's not a bad thing."
"And we know a lot about transfiguration."
"We can handle-"
"Teaching little pranksters." They both said. Charlie sighed.
"And what about the names? Me and Snape immediately knew it was you because of that!" Charlie scolded. The twins looked up at the older brother.
"How'd you know?"
"James is Harry's dad, and a Marauder. I knew George would use that because you look almost like him and because you care more about Harry being comfortable around people. Bill is our brother and has always been closer to Fred than anyone." Charlie said. The twins simply grinned and looked at the now sleeping boy between them. The brunette was curled against Fred's side, sleeping quietly, only the slight rise and fall of his chest told the three others that he was still alive.
"You don't think they're going to let him be a spy…do you?" Charlie asked, not taking his eyes off of the boy they all saw as a little brother.
"They might." George answered. "Besides, who better than someone who can't remember most of the things about everyone here?"
"True."
"I just hope he stays safe." Fred said. "Come on, we should get him back to Snape."
The full moon shone down on the castle as faint whimpers came from Snape's quarters. Harry was curled up as a leopard once again, fidgeting and whimpering before waking up screaming. His eyes snapped open as he sat up, his back hitting the hand that was about to shake him awake. He glanced around fearfully before his eyes landed on Snape, who was crouching down next to him.
"Potter? What the hell?" He asked. Harry shook his head, ears flattening against the black fur as his wings stretched out before falling flat as well. His gaze fell to the floor.
"Sorry sir…it-it was just a nightmare…" Harry whispered softly.
"What was it about?" Black ears angle towards the professor at the question, wondering if they heard right. Snape? Asking about him? He decided that he must be in a dream still.
"Just some flashbacks." He shrugged. "Sorry…"
"Flashbacks about what?" Snape asked. Harry sighed.
"My uncle abusing me." This was just a dream right? No harm in telling the potions master what happened.
"abuse?"
"Duh, you know for a dream this is really weird, normally people just laugh and don't ask about things." Harry yawned. Snape glared at him.
"This isn't a dream you brat." He sneered. Harry blinked twice before looking back down at the ground.
"Oh no…" He whimpered, hiding his head under large paws, shutting his eyes tight. He never told anyone about that! Why did it have to be Snape that found out?
"Talk." Snape ordered. Harry shook his head. He didn't want to tell anyone, especially the guy who hates him! "Harry…" One eye opened at the sound of his name, his paw moving off of his head to look up at the professor. Green eyes studied Snape carefully before something told Harry that Snape didn't want to hurt him. He sat up slowly, transforming into a more familiar form, noticing that the ears and tail stayed for some reason.
"Before I found out I was a wizard when Hagrid came when I was 11...I was always abused. Mostly by my uncle and cousin, but my Aunt helped, or did nothing to stop it. And it just got worse as time went on…"
"How did no one notice?" Snape asked. Harry's eyes found the ground interesting again.
"I knew someone would find out if I used glamour spells…and I can't use those when I'm out of school…so I used make up. I met a girl at a muggle school who told me it worked, and it did. Not even Hermione noticed." Harry admitted. "I used longer lasting spells to make sure it didn't come off with water."
"Take it off then." Harry tensed up at that request, shaking his head and leaning back against the wall. His head was pounding from fear and his eyes reflected it. He didn't want to show off the scars. But it was too late, as he felt the spell fail, the make up disappearing with it, bringing a stifled gasp from the older man. Accompanying the boy's lighting-shaped scar was a long scar across his nose, Snape guessed it was from a knife or shard of something. Other scars littered his neck and shoulders that were barley hidden by the shirt the Gryffindor wore. "Shit…"
"They're worse on my back…" Harry said, grabbing his wand and using a glamour charm this time. He was too tired to try make up, and it would just be useless. He wondered if the spell kept the scars from appearing on his leopard form, and decided it was best not to try and find out.
"I knew Petunia was heartless, but this…this isn't her."
"You knew her?" Harry's head snapped up, eyes filled with a strange emotion. "How?"
Dark gray eyes met green for a second before Snape looked away. "I knew her and Lilly as a kid." He said it as if it wasn't worth mentioning, Harry noticed. "You should try and sleep again." He stood up and turned to walk away, not casting another glance to the boy.
'He knew her…he knew my mother…' Harry shook his head, transforming back and curling up, just in time too as the fireplace lit up with green flames and Dumbledore walked in.
"Severus, there has been an attack." The potions master turned to glare at the headmaster.
"On who this time?"
"Hermione Granger." Harry's head snapped up at the name seconds before the rest of him did. As he stood there snarling Dumbledore looked over to him.
"Down Night. You really need to stop with this after bad dreams." Snape half-scolded. The leopard relaxed slowly, but kept his shoulders tensed. He wanted to know what happened. "Explain." Snape said, turning back to Dumbledore.
"We found her, Mr. Zabini, and Ms. Weasley in the corridors. It seems Mr. Zabini attacked them."
'WHAT? Blaise wouldn't do that! I thought he was dating 'Mione!' Harry growled before running off, getting out of the room and into the corridors.
"It seems that your leopard is acting very strange Severus."
"It's just stress of being in a new place." Snape said. "What did you need me for?"
"I just had to tell you that Mr. Zabini is suspended. It seems a bit…odd that we talk about one of your most hated students, and your familiar runs off."
"What ever you are suggesting you old fool is wrong. You heard me rebuke him about the bad dreams, he usually wakes up snarling and then runs off." Snape growled. "He won't hurt the students so I see no harm in stopping him."
While the two men bickered, Harry made his way up to the corridor, the scent of blood leading him. He stopped when he saw where the fight took place. He could defiantly tell the three people were here, but there was another scent. One he couldn't place. 'Who is that…' He wondered, growling slightly. Figuring it out could wait. Right now, he had someone to visit in the hospital wing.