Cat, Rat, and Dog

By Matelia-legwll

A/N: We left off with Peter, in a bad mood, I believe:

Sirius started humming the tune Peeves had made up as we started back to the Common Room. I took the liberty of slapping him upside the head. Stupid, careless mutt. He just laughed all the harder.

Sometimes I absolutely hate being a Marauder. Until I finally get my voice back, I will officially be in a bad mood.

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood? ARGH!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: James and Remus

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Dear Mum,

Well, this has been an interesting holiday so far. I'm actually in charge of taking care of Lily Evans's cat! She left her with me for the holidays. The cat is real nice and affectionate. She has this nice red, ginger fur, and her green eyes remind me of her owner.

Besides the cat, the Marauders and I have a prank in the works. Hush-hush, you know. I'll tell you all about it when we actually get away with it.

Oh, by the way, I am going to need another set of robes. Thanks Mum!

Love,

James

I looked back over the letter. There. That robe request looked sufficiently unrelated. Of course, Mum would probably connect the dots as soon as she caught a glimpse of the shredded sleeves. She was good at that. Of course, she kind of had to be, being my mum and all.

I grinned as I reread the part about the prank. That was going to be wonderful. Transfiguring all the Slytherins's chocolate eggs into rabbits. I softly chuckled at the thought. I couldn't really laugh any louder for all the Marauders were asleep. I really shouldn't stay up this late, I thought to myself, yawning. But the note had to be done, and my mind wouldn't let me rest until I got it out of my head.

I looked at the first paragraph. That was probably the thing that kept me awake the most. The likenesses between Lily Evans and Lils. How in the world had Lily been able to find a cat with exactly the same shade of red for fur? And with those greener than green eyes? That must have been extremely tough.

Of course, I had also thought Lily was friends with that toe rag, Snivellus. He came up to me today on the way to the Quidditch Pitch asking if I had been playing some joke on him with the cat. After asserting that yes, I had been completely honest about the owner of Lils, Snivelly looked stunned and shocked. Entirely speechless.

And when Padfoot and Moony confirmed it too, Snivellus looked, well, almost lost. I think I nearly felt sorry for the grease rag for the first time. I started to put myself in his shoes as the thought popped into my mind of how I would feel if, when Lily and I finally develop a real relationship, Lily never told me she had gotten a cat, and left it with my worst enemy over the holidays. I don't think I'll try that again for a while. Some parts of Snape's life I can relate to, but others. . . . I have no clue what is going through his greasy mind. And I'm not sure I want to know. He doesn't seem to have very much fun.

Although, Padfoot did put up some rather odd facial expressions in the instant before he confirmed that the cat belonged to Lily. He looked amused, disgusted, and for some reason anxious. Now that I think about it, Wormtail looked rather anxious too. But Wormy looks anxious at times for absolutely no reason.

Wormtail tends to be a bit obsessively worried sometimes. He's even occasionally worse than Moony. And Moony is a hard one to beat with being worried about something.

But there was something odd about this last time. As if Padfoot and Wormtail know something about the cat that I don't.

I leaned back in my chair. It would kind of make sense for Wormy to know something odd about the cat, as he was the one she chased up to the dormitory, but Sirius? No. That just wouldn't happen. He was with me the whole time. And even if Wormtail did tell Sirius something, why would Padfoot be the confidant? Sirius doesn't inspire trust, well, not as much as Moony or myself.

I shook myself. I really needed to get to sleep. I was starting to doze off at the desk, and that wouldn't help me get restful sleep at all. I undressed and climbed into bed. Waiting to fall asleep, my eyes rested on Lils, all wrapped into her blankets that we had acquired from a second-year girl.

Sirius would've been disgusted to know that I suddenly felt like cooing over the sleeping cat. He can't quite understand my attachment to her. I'm not entirely sure I understand it myself, though. I know part of it has to do with me fancying Lily, and the cat belonging to Lily. I'm not sure what else is going on with that, though.

Lils twitched her little forepaw, dreaming about something or other.

There was definitely something endearing about that cat.

RLRLRLRLRLRLRL

This has been a weird holiday so far. I mean, I expected to be in the Hospital Wing at least two nights after that full moon, but Sirius came and got me out after only one night. My shortest stay so far.

My mind jumped to the reason I was out so soon: Bertram Aubrey. I shook my head incredulously. Sometimes I just cannot believe the inventiveness of that loyal mutt. Getting me out of the Hospital Wing with threats?

And then — finding out that Lily Evans left without her cat. That's just rubbish. The Lily I know, doesn't own a pet, let alone a pet cat. She moaned about Petunia making up an allergy to cats during patrols. Sure she wants a cat, but she would never out and buy a cat without bouncing around and hinting about it to everyone she knows. Plus, she is quite responsible and would never leave for the holidays if she couldn't find her cat.

And the way everyone reacts to the cat. None of the girls in her dormitory knew that she had a cat. Even Snape, her friend that knows practically everything about her, came up to the group of us yesterday and asked if James and Sirius were playing a prank on him. That is definitely the politest I have ever seen Snape around James. And he looked taken aback when James told him upfront that yes, the cat was Lily's.

But — I know when James is joking around or lying. I've been around him enough to know. And that was one of the most honest and serious statements that I have ever heard him say. And so, I backed him up. The only other time I can think of that he was that honest and upfront was when he told me that my furry little problem would never change his opinion of me.

So, how does this all jive? It just doesn't make any sense.

Oops, Peter's looking at me funny. I must have said that last bit aloud. What were we supposed to be talking about?

"Er, Moony? You're usually good at Charms," Peter said warily.

Charms, right. I had missed Charms this last moon. "I was thinking about something totally different from Charms," I protested softly.

We were in the library after all. Apparently catching me up on the last Charms lesson before moving on to Transfiguration. I really should apologize for not paying attention to Peter, but he's moved on already.

"Do you understand everything from this lesson now?" The question jolted me out of my musings once more.

"Oh, I think I've mainly got it now. Thanks, Wormy," I replied, feeling guilty. I hadn't listened to one word he had been saying.

"Alright, now maybe you can help me focus on Transfiguration," Peter said disparagingly.

"Why can't you focus?" I asked, partly to get the spotlight off of myself.

"Stupid rhyme-riddle thingy," replied Peter sulkily. "It's been running through my head ever since class, and I can't get rid of it."

"What have you tried?" I inquired.

"Everything," said Peter dramatically.

"How did it get stuck in your head?" This was getting interesting.

"Prongs was teaching it to Padfoot during class," said Peter resentfully.

"What is it?" I found myself extremely curious.

Peter sighed, then recited slowly, "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" He looked up at me with a pleading expression. "What is a woodchuck?"

I tried to stifle my laughter, in order to honor the trust that Peter was placing in me. "Er — hmm — well, a woodchuck," I cleared my throat to cover up a snigger that desired to escape, "A woodchuck is a small forest creature, a groundhog. I'm not surprised that Prongs knows about them, considering what he is. The creatures themselves could've taught Prongs that riddle."

"Then, why would Evans turn around in her chair and glare at them?" asked Peter earnestly.

"Lily?" I paused, then couldn't prevent a grin from creeping up my face. "You got stuck on an attention grabber for Lily Evans? You should know better than that, Wormy. Prongs probably heard that in his Muggle Studies class."

"I understand that," protested Peter. "But what's the answer?"

"I'm not so sure there is an answer," I replied.

"Argh!" burst out Peter, dropping his head into his arms.

I blinked, then said, "Perhaps, perhaps I could help you find the same place Prongs found it. I'm not guaranteeing that there will be an answer, but maybe finding it will be productive to getting it out of your system."

Peter looked up at me, his eyes watering in admiration, or was that because he had just sneezed? Anyway, Peter said, "Really? We could do that?"

I shrugged. "Sure. Why not?" I gathered up my stuff to transfer it over to a table nearer the Muggle Studies section, and Peter followed my lead as we began our researching.

Peter's List

Item one: Hide the map. Check.

Item two: Tell Sirius. Check.

Item three: Laugh off any weird questions. Check.

Item four: But don't laugh when an ironic situation comes up.

Item five: Take a deep breath if the subject comes up.

Item six: Don't hyperventilate when others are discussing cats or Evans.

Item seven: Just stop reminding myself that the cat is Evans.

Item eight: Change the subject if it is hitting too close to home.

Item nine: Don't look suspicious.

Item ten: Don't tell anyone the real reason for this list.

A/N: Wow. I actually deviated from Lily, Peter, and Sirius. Mani and a couple of others asked me to show another viewpoint, so here it is. How did I do? Should I just stick with the Cat, Rat, and Dog or include the Wolf and Stag more? My finals for University are coming up in the next three weeks, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to stick with my schedule. All kinks should be finished with on May 20th, though and regular updates are in sight.

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?

All readers--Take a look back at Peter's list. Can you think of anything to add? Tell me in a review or PM, and I'll find a way to use it. My only request be that the list consist of rather obvious or pathetic notions, and that it would be absolutely hilarious to make Peter follow through on. Keep them coming! Please! The most I have right now is nineteen. Can we make nineteen a good twenty-five?

I can't figure this out. How does it work that I have 32 people that have put this story on alert, 19 that have added it to their favorites, 400 hits to my profile (though I'll give that not all of them relate to this story), over 4,500 overall story hits, and I only got eight reviews since I posted my last chapter? The numbers are depressing me. Surely you, my lurking reader, can step it up and send me a little note. Keep reviewing, please. I promise I'll respond to all reviews. Even to anonymous reviewers, as long as you include an email address. And please do include an email address, if you plan on being anonymous. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but it's just one extra line. I know you must hear this a lot, but every new review does make my day.

Oh, and I've been updating my profile avatar image to correspond with something in each of these chapters. Check it out for some cute kitty pictures. Go ahead and visit my profile, especially if you are waiting for the next chapter.

Thank you for reading!