Chapter 7 The Secret Egg
Hannette looked at the raw burn on her hand as she pondered the egg. Of all the creatures who could touch it, Alice would be the least likely to get hurt. She saw Alice by the clerks, distracting the men and one woman from what Harry was doing. Miralene had probably sent her in to check on the progress. It had to be a coincidence that the egg was there. It was lying on a crate of crup food for Morgana's sake. She made a series of signs with her hands, sending threads of spider silk from her fingertips. They formed words in front of Alice for the briefest of moments, then evaporated.
Harry held up his kitten as gently as he could, and Hannette couldn't help but coo at the gorgeous creature. She had sleek, slightly fluffy ginger fur and bright amber eyes. Those eyes peered at Hannette, and a tongue flicked out as though she knew what Hannette was.
"this Jenny kitty," Harry said, beaming up at her. "Int she pwetty?"
"She is beautiful Harry," Hannette gushed. "Let's get her some litter and food."
Alice knew even before she got Hannette's message that something was amiss. She felt a source of fire nearby that she couldn't explain. It was only an ember, but a brightly burning ember. She slipped out of the store with Harry on her hip, her other hand carrying a bag of cat litter. Hannette held the food and the new kitten in her cage. The kitten was surprisingly calm for one who was being jostled about.
"Okay Hannette," she turned toward her lover, "What was all that about? Why is there an egg—"
"Not here Alice!" Hannette hissed. "We need to get somewhere quiet."
"Who is this little miss?" Remus asked as he and Miralene walked up. "She looks very fetching."
"Harry named her Jenny," Hannette said fondly as Remus reached through the bars and got a small nip to the finger.
"That's a very pretty name," said Alice as she gestured for everyone to follow her. "Come on, let's go get Harry's other present. After that, we need to talk about Harry's discovery in the pet store."
"I still get pwesent even with egg?" Harry asked eagerly, patting his pocket carefully.
"Yes little sparrow," Miralene said. "We can't determine what to do with the egg yet, so you can't have it for a while, okay?"
Harry pouted, but nodded. He squirmed in Alice's arms, wanting to be put down. She relented, but took his hand to make sure he didn't run off out of their sight. Harry jogged toward a toy shop and jiggled the handle.
"We go in?" he asked.
"Sure cub," said Moony, "Let me get the door for you."
Moony opened the door and Harry walked into the store. Hannette, Miralene and Remus went over to the clothing store across the street, while Alice followed Harry into the store. Alice watched her charge with a smile, guiding him past the toys for older children. He tried to duck past her and run over to a set of flying toy Quiddich balls, but Alice caught him easily.
"We can't get you that kind of toy yet dear," Alice told the pouting child. "Let's see if you take a liking to anything over here."
"May I assist you Ma'am?" asked a store clerk, peeking out from behind a box of toy wands. "We have plenty of toys for a tyke his age."
"Auntie Liss,"Harry asked, "What's a tyke?"
"He just means a little boy, deary," Alice said, making sure Harry's scar was covered. "Now, I think we should pick you out a toy, don't you?"
Moony was confused and intrigued. He was intrigued because Harry's kitten Jenny seemed to actually like him. He examined his finger again, not a mark. He was confused because what he suspected was a fire bird egg was now in his cub's pocket and pet stores usually, well, never sold such merchandise. Even Noctern Alley wouldn't deal in fire bird eggs. Most folks there wouldn't be able to touch one. Speaking of touching one, he took Hannette's hand in his with a questioning raise of his eyebrow and inspected it. It was bad, but he'd seen worse from a pure object touching what might be considered a dark creature.
"Be sure to put some burn salve on that later," he said calmly. "It's not bad enough that you would need ditiny."
"Thank you Remus," Hannette said, "Alice has lots of burn salve in stock just in case Harry gets into an accident with the fire place."
Moony winced. He wasn't prepared for childhood accidents, but knew anything could happen. His wolf growled in the back of his head, but he ignored it for now. Miralene was shopping in a different section, he saw. He supposed it wouldn't be right for her to be seen with them all the time. He was so focused on worrying that he had so many clothes in his arms he almost dropped them all.
"Remus," Hannette said, probably for the third time. "I love your taste in fashion, but I think that's enough clothing for now. You have enough clothes for up to when Harry turns 3 or so."
She took about half his bundle and stuffed it into her basket. She then took him by the arm and gestured for them to move toward the counter. After paying for the clothing, Moony took most of the bags and shrunk them, putting them into his large pockets. He didn't see Miralene anywhere as they exited, but he did spot Alice and Harry walk out of the toy store.
Harry looked extremely happy as he bounced along beside Alice. Alice held a box which looked to contain a child's version of the Hogwarts Express. Moony wondered if that toy wasn't just a bit too advanced for Harry but said nothing. He trusted Alice's judgement, for now at least.
"We're all done at the clothing store," Moony said, fixing Harry's hat which was in danger of falling off. "Is everyone ready to get back onto the Night Bus?"
Miralene appeared out of the shadows as Moony lead them all out of the Leaky Cauldron. He could have sworn he'd seen the Malfoys sitting at a small table in the corner, but shrugged it off. If Hannette wanted Blaise Zabini to become Harry's friend, it was 10 to 1 Draco would eventually as well. He just hoped the Malfoys were willing to go gray in order to avoid Voldemort and Dumbledore.
Remus chuckled as Harry bounded into the night bus as best as a toddler could. That little munchkin had endless energy. He took a seat next to Hannette so he could watch Harry from across the aisle.
It was only a few more minutes before they got home and Harry could let the kitten out of her cage. Jenny kitty came right up to Remus and sniffed him. She climbed up his robes until she was over half way up his leg, sniffing all the way. It was only when Remus plucked her off of him and held her up to his face did she stare him in the eyes and prrrp in satisfaction. She jumped to the floor and Harry went chasing after her. It was sheer luck that Alice had managed to swipe the egg from his pocket without him noticing.
Miralene had no sooner touched the egg than she let out a shriek of pain and dropped it. Everyone had put silencing charms on their ears just in case, and Harry was outside the house, playing with his kitten. She grabbed the bottle of dittany and poured a few drops onto her smoking wound, tears clattering to the floor as she bit her lip in agony. Alice quickly picked up the egg, which was unbroken, then tossed the handful of banshee tears into a jar on the mantle.
"Well we definitely know this is a pure object," she mouthed. "Only Remus and I can touch it and Remus sustained a minimal burn."
Miralene wiped the remaining tears from her face and dropped them into the jar. She still whimpered in anger, but even the slightest banshee wail could cause pain to those who heard it. She watched as Alice wayed the egg thoughtfully, then stiffened as Harry ran into the room, chasing Jenny kitty. Miralene clamped her lips shut as tight as possible as Harry hugged her. Hannette covered Harry's ears, just in case.
When it looked like Miralene had calmed down, she wiped the grit from her eyes and unsilenced everyone's ears. Harry had stolen the egg and seemed to be walking in a trance. He was following the glowing faeries again, but not on purpose. His eyes were completely focused on the egg. Now he stood in front of the lit fireplace, leaning against the protective shield. Many arms reached out to stop him, but a clamor of faerie speak arose and everyone dropped their arms to their sides.
"Fiwe is pwetty," said Harry, letting the egg roll out of his hand and into the fire. "Fiwe make egg gwow."
He then turned away from the egg in the fire as though his job was done. He scooped up Jenny kitty and wormed his way onto Remus' lap.
"Well I never," said Miralene in shock, staring at the glowing red egg. "That boy just doesn't know what he's got."
"Sometimes fortune should just be accepted without thinking of why or how," Remus mused, stroking Jenny kitty's fur. "Harry's only 1, almost 2. He doesn't care about this stuff yet. It's later on that we'll have to worry. Right now he's just working on childlike instinct."
"Biwdy name Hedwig," Harry said with a big grin. "I dweam animals."
"I think I'm going to start making supper," said Alice. "It's time for Harry to eat then have a bath."
"Jenny kitty have bath too?" Harry asked curiously.
Jenny kitty looked up at Harry like he was crazy. She licked his nose, then bounded away to chase the magical toy stag which had migrated to the sitting room.
A/N Hello beautiful souls. It doesn't have much cohesion I know, for which I'm sorry. If anyone is offering, I have great plans for this story and would love a co-writer. Please read and review. Rosebloom … Reposted thanks for the feedback.