Cat, Rat, and Dog

By Matelia-legwll

A/N: The customary little snapshot from the end of the last chapter:

"Haughty little thing, aren't you?" said Potter as he opened the door.

I glared at him for the indignity of being picked up, then squirmed in his grasp. I was not going to fall for the spell his hands cast upon me; not when freedom was in my sight.

CHAPTER FOUR: Peter and Sirius

PPPPPPPPPPPPPP

I stared at my curtains as I heard James and Sirius talking to each other.

Oh, Merlin. This is all my fault. What did I do? I've got to tell someone. But who? To think I almost told Sirius and James. James would kill me if he found out I Transfigured Evans into a cat. Remus is still in the Hospital Wing. Maybe I could tell just Sirius. Oh, I don't know!

How could this all have started with a little rhyme about woodchucks? This was such a big mess. I don't even remember what words came out of my mouth to Transfigure Evans into a cat. James and Sirius have just left to take Evans back to Evans. How will that work?

The map! I have got to find the map! If they come back here and look for her on it, it will show her as the cat! I ripped open my curtains and dashed around checking Remus's bed and Sirius's things and I even rummaged through James's trunk. I hit Galleons there.

Well, I mean, I found it. I didn't actually hit Galleons. James isn't that rich. Well, maybe he is, but I wouldn't steal from my best mates anyway. It's an expression, yeesh!

I clambered up onto my bed. Got it! Phew! Just talk yourself through this, Peter. Everything will be alright.

Maybe this is all a big nightmare. Maybe if I just nibble a little of the cheese Sirius and James brought back, and take a nice nap, I'll wake up and everything will be taken care of. Please, please, let it be a nightmare.

I wonder what kind of cheese they brought. Ooh, yummy! Bleu cheese. Mmmm. I can relax now.

A-a-ah. I yawned, my eyes drooping. Nap. Yes. Ju-st a lit-tle na-ah.

SBSBSBSBSBSBSB

That — darn — cat!

I swear I'm going to chase it around the castle. She's worse than Filch's cat. It wriggled out of James's grasp, dashed down the stair, and scratched the back of the portrait of the Fat Lady until she swung open. James and I chased it down to the Great Hall where she immediately ran for the Slytherin table.

How thick can a cat be? No sensible animal goes near the Slytherins. She headed in a beeline for Snivellus. True, Evans and Snivelly are friendly towards one another, but still. I shook my head in dismay at James. He, however, wasn't looking at me. He was still following the cat's progress. It stopped right in front of Snivellus, looking at the slime ball intently. James drew his wand.

A bit of entertainment never went too amiss, but I noted Slughorn and McGonagall had noticed, and were watching intently and ready to intervene. I didn't feel like getting more than a week's worth of detentions at the moment (which is what either teacher would give us, let alone the combined punishments), but James apparently felt differently. True to my characteristic of a loyal best friend, I indicated that there were teachers watching, in case he cared.

James frowned. He stuck his wand back loosely and strutted over to the Slytherin table. I shook my head. One just had to admire his nerve. Personally, I would have let the cat get her dues before rescuing it from the Slytherins.

"I believe this cat doesn't belong here, so I'll just take her to her owner," I heard James say as the hall hushed in amazement.

I swear the cat glared at James. It turned back to Snivelly, but James scooped her up quite easily.

"C'mon, Lils," said James softly. I can't believe he insisted on talking to the cat, especially in front of all the people in the Great Hall.

"Whose cat is it?" asked Snivellus. The Great Hall hushed even quieter.

"Evans's," said James, before turning and striding back to where I was standing partly in shock.

James didn't see the dropped jaw of Snivellus, or the amazement of the hall at witnessing an exchange that took place between James Potter and Severus Snape without wands — but I did. James was too busy trying to calm the squirming, hissing cat.

"What does she think she's doing?" James muttered, as the cat tried to make another run into the Great Hall. I quickly stopped her, immediately handing her back to James. I wasn't going to get any more scratches than necessary on my hands. After two more attempts where she succeeded at leaving James's grasp, he burst out, "Fine. Sirius, get Padfoot. Let's show her that we mean business."

"With pleasure," I said as I stepped into an empty classroom. I closed the door, checked to make sure it was truly empty, then transformed into the big bear-like black dog that was my Animagus form. I burst out of the classroom on all four paws.

I was delighted to see that I scared the wits out of the little kitten. It scurried up James's arm and buried its face in his hair, resting on his shoulder. I barked happily, before James looked at me in horror, and I realized we were still in the entrance hall. Which was right next to the Great Hall, which was still chock-full of teachers that were sure to remember that dogs weren't an allowed pet.

That rule was pure nonsense, in my opinion. Dogs do not have a greater capacity for destruction than, say, cats. Cats are malicious and will ruin things on purpose. Sure, sometimes dogs will have accidents, but dog-lovers should be able to bring their dogs, as much as cat lovers can bring their cats. It would give me better company than those annoyingly haughty animals hanging around the castle these days.

Ahem. I didn't mean to get started on a tirade against cats or anything. If I did, that would consume precious time.

Before the kitten had worked up the courage to look up from James's extremely untidy hair, I transformed back.

"How was that?" I asked grinning.

James winced as he casually examined the sleeves of his robes. "I dunno how I'm going to explain to Mum that I need new robes, when we just got some over the Christmas holidays."

I shrugged, just barely disappointed that he had treated my excellent transformation so lightly. "A guy's going to go through some robes now and again. Just tell her you blew something up. Blame it on the toilet from last week," I suggested.

The cat finally looked up. Was that an look of disgust on its face? My, that cat was expressive.

James rolled his eyes. "Blowing something up doesn't explain why my sleeves are shredded. Maybe if they were burnt off. . . . Oh, well. On to find Evans." He paused then turned to me. "I know you're hungry, Sirius. Go ahead and stay here and have some dinner." I shrugged again, not ready to admit yet what he had already seen, and stood there for a moment longer as he started up the grand staircase.

James muttered to the cat as he finally made it up the stair, "Only Snape is in the Great Hall. Evans is not, in case you didn't notice. So stop trying to go there."

My stomach rumbled hungrily as I grinned and went into the Great Hall myself.

A/N: Well, what do you think? What's your favorite part so far? Any good dialogue or good rants? Any suggestions? I'll take them into consideration, I promise. Any questions for me?

I love irony, but I'll admit, sometimes dramatic irony gets on my nerves. And yet, I still write it. (grins guiltily) Just remember, Lily is being quite aggravating, and Sirius doesn't yet know that the cat is Lily. He's still calling Lils "it" for goodness sake. And yes, I disclaim the phrase, 'That darn cat!' I just couldn't resist.

Why is it that the more one begs for reviews, the less reviews actually trickle in? I'm not trying to pressure whoever reads this (I'm a bit of a lurker myself), but I would honestly appreciate more feedback from so many hits. It gets kind of depressing watching the hits rise, but getting no new reviews. You could be the one to change that cycle! I promise I'll respond. Even to anonymous reviewers, as long as you include an email address.

And I'm trying to build up a good reader base of readers that will review. I know you must hear this alot, but every new review does make my day. And seriously, the more reviews I get, the sooner I start on getting the next chapter ready and out. I try to justify putting it up with getting a certain number of reviews. Also, keep in touch, and you may get treats! Right, Mani? lol.

Anyway, thanks for reading! Especially this long author's note. Thanks!