Cat, Rat, and Dog

By Matelia-legwll

A/N: The little snapshot from the end of the last chapter to keep in mind:

As soon as he opened the painting, I set out for the Gryffindor Common Room. If James wouldn't give me a chance to see Sev and get him to realize what had happened, then I would just have to do the communicating with my other friends. It would take a while longer, but it would be worth it, I assured myself.

"Good idea," agreed James once he realized where I was off to, and he followed me all the way back.

CHAPTER SIX: Sirius

After finishing my relatively peaceful meal and dealing with several different people who had to ask me whom the cat belonged to and why James hadn't used his wand on Snivellus, I was ready to head back to the dormitories for an after supper nap.

I went up to the dormitories to find an overly anxious Peter rocking back and forth on his bed. He saw me and jumped up.

"Oh, Sirius! Thank Merlin you're here!"

"Why?" I asked plaintively. I could feel a headache coming on.

"I have to talk to you about the cat," Peter declared.

I sighed. Not this again. "The cat will not chase you," I said flatly. "If it does, I will chase it."

Peter shook his head. "No, no. It's not about that," he dismissed and I breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed on my bed, at least until he spoke up again. "The cat is — well — it's a girl."

I lazily opened one eye. "I had hoped you were right about that," I remarked dryly. If this was his idea of a pertinent conversation. . . .

"No, no, no. I don't mean it like that. I mean, the cat is a girl, but—" he stopped and I rolled my eyes exasperatedly. He tried once again. "The cat is — the cat is a — a witch!"

I looked at him. Was he serious? "Yeah, the cat is a little witch." He breathed a sigh of relief until I showed him my hands. "Look at all these scratches."

"Argh!" Apparently I had frustrated little Wormtail. "The cat is — the cat is Evans!"

I stared at him strangely. Surely he had just forgotten to speak the possessive. "I know the cat is Evans's," I said, correcting him.

"You know?" asked Peter.

"Of course I know. The cat told us she belonged to Evans."

"How would the cat —" burst out Peter. He took a deep breath. "Never mind. You are still not getting the point."

Well, what point was there to get?

"The cat was not always a cat," he declared proudly.

I gave a little sigh of exasperation myself. "Of course. It used to be an ickle baby kitten," I quipped. "Why the lesson on the life of cats?"

Peter stared at me. "Merlin, you're impossible!"

What? Why?

"Alright, let's start from a point I know you'll recognize."

"Which is?" I asked, rather cheekily.

"Evans cornering me in the library."

Speaking of Evans... I glossed over that and declared, "Yeah, I recognize that all right, but I have a question for you."

"Yes?" said Peter, looking apprehensively at me.

"How come you were the last to see Evans if she's so dead set on Moony's mystery?" I asked. It was a question I had been pondering all through supper. Well, when I'd had time to ponder.

Peter sighed. "I haven't been the last to see her. It's just that no one has seen her in her normal form."

What was that supposed to mean? "You don't mean to say she's an Animagus or something," I had to make sure.

"No! No, no. Nothing like that." Peter paused. "Well, maybe, kind of, sort of, but not really." I raised my eyebrows.

Peter sighed and sat down on his bed, hard. I winced. The poor bed.

"Oh, this is all my fault!"

An improvement, but self-pity never gets anyone anywhere, so I prompted him, "What is?"

"I panicked," he admitted in a small voice.

I snorted. "You always panic."

"This time was — bad."

Great. Single sentence answers. They're always so annoying. "How so?" I said with exaggerated patience.

"I — I — I —"

Oh, so now he can't even get one word out. "Just spit it out," I exasperatedly instructed him.

"Evans turned into a cat."

I was about to say, 'Eh, that's not so bad,' but I didn't get that far before what he said registered in my brain. "Eh, what?"

This combination seemed to open the floodgates. "I honestly didn't mean to. I have no clue how I did it. I can't change her back. I don't even know what spell I used. I might have even made up a spell for all I know, but blimey if I know what words came out of my mouth just then—" I cut him off the most efficient way I know how: covering his mouth.

I paused for a moment letting all this information sink into my brain. Apparently Evans had actually come up to the dormitories and Pete panicked. And turned her into a cat. The same cat that had walked straight to Snivellus in the Great Hall, the same cat that had given me all those nasty scratches, the same cat that was now with James.

"Merlin's socks!" I exclaimed. "Do you mean to tell me that I left one James Potter caring for one Lily Evans in cat form?"

Peter nodded, relieved that I had finally gotten the point.

I roared with laughter. "Blimey! What will James say when he finds out?"

" 'When'?" Peter exclaimed, anxious once again. "He can't find out!"

I gave Peter a patronizing look. "Wormtail, this is James we're talking about, not you. He will figure it out."

"We've just got to make sure that he doesn't," declared Peter resolutely.

"He stalks the girl for Godric's sake!" I burst out. There is no way that we could hide this whole caper from James.

"Still. I've already taken steps," said Wormtail in a would-be reassuring tone.

I looked worriedly at him. "What steps?"

"Hiding the map, —"

I laughed, hitting my knee in an exaggerated fashion. " 'Hiding the map,' good one." I sobered instantly to show how unfunny I truly viewed that step. "No, really."

Peter gave me a look. "Really. And I've told you, so as soon as you change her back —"

"Wait. You actually hid the map?" I looked around the room.

Peter nodded. "Of course."

"Why did you hide the map?"

"One, it would give away the position of Evans to be the same as the cat. Two, it was fun, and three, I thought that was the best course of action," declared Peter.

I stared at him in shock. "But why did you hide the map?" I wanted to shake him.

"I told you," stated Wormtail.

"But why did you hide the map?"

Wormtail rolled his eyes. "It was fun."

"But why did you hide the map?" I repeated again.

Peter sighed and I gathered my wits about me. To think that any Marauder would even think of hiding the map . . . I shuddered.

I cleared my throat in slight embarrassment. "You expect me to change her back?" I remembered him saying something of the sort before I got sidetracked onto the map.

Peter nodded once more, looking hopeful and pleased. His face fell when I spoke again.

"No can do, little Wormy," I declared.

"What?" he exclaimed. I saw that he was going to go on his little pity-me speech again: Is it irreversible? Is it me? Is it you? (Blimey, that last bit sounds like a break-up speech) so I cut him off.

"Not until after the Easter Holidays, anyway," I shrugged.

"But, why?" said Peter, dismayed.

I gloated for an instant at making him as distressed as his news about the map made me, but I quickly sobered.

"Evans will understand, Wormtail. And I bet you ten sickles she'll agree with my reasoning." I stood and made my way to the door before turning and saying, "And it remains your job to figure out how we can keep Prongs and Moony from suspecting too much."

I turned again and walked out, shutting the door to Peter's voice saying, "But — but — but — ! Argh!"

Ah, the satisfaction of walking down those stairs. Now I understood what we had happened upon, now I understood the gravity of hiding our, well, blatantly illegal activities, and now I understood the mysterious connection between James and the cat.

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?

And we're back to the normal Tuesday updates. This marks the halfway point--meaning half of all the chapters I have currently typed up are online. But don't worry, there are plenty more chapters I have yet to write. Yay! Keep on reviewing, please! I promise I'll respond. Even to anonymous reviewers, as long as you include an email address. Oh, and yes, I do disclaim the inspiration of dialogue I received from Pirates of the Caribbean. I couldn't resist. Hilariously fun chapter.

I'm trying to build up a good reader base of readers that will review. Next chapter you will find out why I am so adamant about this. 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 certain treats!

Thank you for reading!