Chapter Six – Cat, Rat, and Dog

In no time at all, Defense Against the Dark Arts had become almost every student's favorite class. Only Pansy Parkinson and the few Slytherins that she had brought to 'her side' had anything bad to say about Remus. "Look at the state of his robes." Pansy would say in a loud, staged whisper as Remus would pass her. "He dresses like our old house-elf." And nothing that Draco threatened her with could get her to stop. It was clear to Harry that the only reason she was 'acting out', as Draco put it, was because she wanted Draco's attention on her. And to counteract her, Harry would make sure that Draco's attention was on him whenever she 'acted out'.

No one else cared that Remus's robes were patched and frayed, but every now and then Harry would catch Severus sigh at the state of Remus's robes but never say anything to the man. Remus's next few lessons were just as interesting as the first. After boggarts (which Remus made sure to keep both Haiden and Harry away from it), they studied Red Caps; nasty little goblin like creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed (in the dungeons of castles and the potholes of deserted battlefields) waiting to bludgeon those who had gotten lost. From Red Caps they moved on to Kappas; creepy water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds.

So far, the only thing Harry had to complain about his third year was having to relive every single class more than once. However, Harry did have to admit that reliving certain classes helped him learn the more difficult stuff. Like in Transfigurations or Charms, or even Divination. One would think that constantly reliving certain moments of the day would make it easier to predict the future, but you would be wrong.

Harry was quickly growing to dread the hours he spent in Professor Trelawney's stifling tower room, deciphering lopsided shapes and symbols, trying to ignore the way Professor Trelawney's enormous eyes filled with tears every time she looked at him. Even though he really wanted to, he couldn't like the woman, at least not while she treated him as if he were on his death bed. He knew that Professor Trelawney was treated with respect bordering on reverence by many of the class, including his brother. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown had taken to haunting Professor Trelawney's tower room at lunchtimes, and always returned with annoyingly superior looks on their faces, as though they knew things the others did not. They had also taking to speaking in hushed voices whenever they spoke to Harry (like Professor Trelawney), as though he were on his deathbed. And Harry was getting fed up with them.

Nobody really like Care of Magical Creatures, which, after the action-packed first class (at least the one everyone remembers happening), had become extremely dull. Hagrid seemed to have lost his confidence. They were now spending lesson after lesson learning how to look after flobberworms, which had to be some of the most boring creatures in existence.

"Why would anyone bother looking after them?" Harry overheard Ron complaining after yet another hour of poking shredded lettuce down the flobberworms' slimy throats.

At the start of October, Harry had begun to slip away and skip classes the first go around (or first two rounds for Divination) and going to them after the rewind. He had even been able to convince the Weasley twins into lending him their map of the school and had begun to explore. Harry always loved the look of wonder and confusion whenever he was able to show the older twins something that they hadn't known about when they didn't think he even had the time to explore the castle.

Harry walked into the Gryffindor common room one evening after exploring with Myari (Draco had had Quidditch practice and Flint hadn't allowed them to stay and watch). He had shown her all the new secrets he had found scattered around the castle. As he walked into the common room, he found the room buzzing excitedly. "What's going on?" He asked Hermione as he leaned over the back of the chair that she and Haiden were sharing as she helped Haiden complete his star charts for Astronomy.

"First Hogsmeade weekend." Haiden said distractedly, motioning over towards the notice board that was old and battered. "End of October. Halloween."

"Excellent." Fred said walking down the stairs from the dorm rooms, George right behind them, both of their clothes a mess and their hair looked as if they had just been out flying. "We need to visit Zonko's. We're nearly out of Stink Pellets." Harry groaned in annoyance as he dragged himself around the chair and collapsed into the couch next to their chair. He and his fathers had already had a long talk about Hogsmeade, and it had been decided (by his fathers) that until everything with Sirius Black had been wrapped up, that it wasn't safe for either him or Haiden to leave the castle grounds.

"Maybe McGonagall, or Flitwick can talk to Snape and Lupin and convince them to allow you to join us." Hermione said, having understood what his silent tantrum had been about.

"Yeah, and maybe when they let you go to Hogsmeade, Black will attack and kill you and then you'll be out of our lives forever." Ron muttered loud enough for everyone in their group to hear.

"Ronald!" Hermione gasped in shock.

"What the hell!" Haiden roared as he shot out of the chair he was sharing with Hermione. "That was uncalled for, I thought we had agreed that you were going to lay off him!" Haiden stormed over to Ron, took him by the scruff of his collar. "Apologize to him, now." He growled out in Ron's face earning a glare from the boy.

"Leave it." Harry ordered as he caught sight of Fred and George pulling out their wands to attack their brother. Everyone looked at Harry in shock, Haiden having let Ron go to turn and look at him.

"But –" Haiden started to protest only to stop at the look in Harry's eyes.

"I said leave it, he's not worth the energy." Harry told them. Hermione opened her mouth to argue only to be cut off as Loki and Crookshanks ran into the room. Crookshanks elegantly leapt into Hermione's lap and began to chew on the large, dead spider he had caught. Hermione looked torn between disgust and not wanting to disturb her precious cat. Harry glanced at his own troublemaker of a cat in time to see him toss a rat into the air as he played with his catch. Ron let out a strangled noise at the sight of both the dead spider and the still living (for the moment anyway) rat.

"Do they have to do that in front of us?" Ron asked scowling.

"Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by yourself?" Hermione cooed petting her cat, earning a purr in return, while shooting Ron a smirk. Crookshanks, still chewing on his own catch, laid in Hermione's lap while staring Ron down.

"If you want to be the one to tell Loki to play with and then eat his catch in another room, be my guest. And then afterwards you can deal with all the dead rats, snakes, and spiders that he'll leave in your bed in retaliation." Harry told Ron with a smirk, just daring him to do so. Ron looked between Harry and Loki (who was now staring the boy down with the rat dangling from his mouth by its tail).

"J-just keep them over there." Ron grunted irritably turning back to his star charts. "I've got Scabbers asleep in my bag." Harry watched as Loki's ears perked up at that before looking at Ron's bag, his tail swaying as he decided which rat he now wanted to 'play' with. After a long pause, Loki had seemed to decide to focus on the rat he already had as he dropped the rat and began to bat at it.

"You should work on your star charts as well, Harry." Hermione told him as Haiden finally sat back down next to her.

"I already finished mine." He informed her. Ron made a rude sound and (obviously fed up with how the boy was treating his human) Loki suddenly launched himself at Ron, clawing and biting him. Crookshanks took that moment to launch himself at Ron's bag and began to try to get at Scabbers.

"Oi!" Ron roared shooting up from his seat. He grabbed his bag and began to fight not only Loki, who was still attacking him, but also trying to get Crookshanks off his bag to protect Scabbers. "Get off! You stupid animals! Stop that!" Ron screeched as Loki got a good, hard bite at his shoulder as Crookshanks hissed and growled as he continued to get at Scabbers.

"Don't hurt him!" Hermione cried as she shot up from her seat to stop Ron as he went to swat at Crookshanks. However, Loki quickly released Ron's shoulder to attack his raised arm. By now the whole common room was watching as Ron battled both Loki and Crookshanks all while trying to keep Scabbers safe in his bag. At last, Ron was able to get a good enough grip on Loki to rip the feline off him and throw him before he began to whirl his bag around with Crookshanks still clinging to it. Scabbers suddenly came flying out of the top of the now destroyed bag.

"Stop those cats!" Ron roared as Crookshanks quickly freed himself from the tattered bag, sprang over the table as both him and Loki shot off after the terrified Scabbers. George quickly made a lunge for Crookshanks, the bigger of the two felines, but just missed. Scabbers streaked through twenty pairs of legs, with Loki close on his tail as Crookshanks went around the students, his sharp yellowish eyes locked on the rat. Scabbers quickly hid beneath an old chest of drawers. Both cats skidded to a halt, Crookshanks crouched low and started making furious swipes beneath the old dresser as Loki danced around the dresser keeping Scabbers trapped beneath it.

Ron and Hermione hurried over to the old dresser, with Harry following leisurely after them. Hermione quickly scooped Crookshanks up and began to pet him in a calming manor. Ron went to throw himself onto his stomach to grab Scabbers, but Loki wouldn't allow him to steal his 'toy'.

"Damn it, Harry, come get your damn cat!" Ron ordered as Loki swiped at him, scratching him once more. Harry stopped and just watched the scene play out in front of him, some small and dark part of his soul enjoying the torment Ron was undergoing. Ron, realizing that Harry wasn't rushing to get Loki, glared over at Harry. "Are you gonna get your stupid cat or not?"

"Maybe Loki will attack and kill Scabbers, and then he'll be out of our lives forever." Harry told Ron darkly, using the boys words back at him. "Stings, don't it?" Harry asked before he finally walked over and scooped Loki up who began purring. "I know thinking is hard for you but do try to think before you open your mouth." Harry hissed at Ron before he made his way back over to the couch and sat with Loki proudly sitting on Harry's lap, as if it were a throne, and began to clean himself. Ron huffed in annoyance before he finally flopped to the ground and pulled Scabbers out by the tail.

"Look at him!" Ron said furiously to Hermione, dangling Scabbers in front of her. "He's skin and bones! Keep your cats away from him!"

"Crookshanks doesn't understand it's wrong!" Hermione argued, her voice shaking. "All cats chase rats, Ron! Right, Harry?"

"My cat knows what he's doing," Harry said petting Loki, "that was Loki proving a point to Ron." Harry glared at Ron. "If Loki really wanted to catch and kill Scabbers, the rat would already be dead."

"W-well, I know Crookshanks didn't know, he was just reacting to Loki." Hermione said.

"There's something funny about your cats!" Ron hissed, glaring at Crookshanks as he tried to persuade a frantically wiggling Scabbers into his pocket. "They heard me say that Scabbers was in my bag!"

"Oh, what rubbish!" Hermione said rolling her eyes. "Crookshanks and Loki could smell him, Ron, how else do you think –"

"Those cats have got it in for Scabbers!" Ron yelled. "And Scabbers was here first, and he's ill!"

"Loki and Scabbers have both been here from the beginning." Harry corrected. Ron huffed before gathering his schoolbooks and marched through the common room and out of sight up the stairs to the boy's dormitories.

– Lock Me In Your Heart –

The next day, Harry was wandering the castle while most of the students his year were in class, he had just travelled from the school to Honeydukes and back via the hidden underground tunnel and it was close for the rewind. Harry wandered up the moving stairs, his mind barely taking note that he was near the Gryffindor common room. He moved to continue up the stairs, maybe he'll make it to the Astronomy room before the rewind, when he caught sight of a large, shaggy looking black dog at the entrance to the Fat Lady's corridor.

Harry froze as the dog looked back at him. The two locked eyes as the dog seemed to be reading him, trying to decide if Harry was a threat or not. The dog dropped into a crouch and began to growl threateningly at him. Harry knew that he should move away from the angry dog, to get out of its attack range, however, his legs were frozen. He was too scared to move, just like when he was confronted with the boggart in the form of a dog. The dog took a step closer to him and Harry was finally able to force his leg to move and went to take a step away just as the stairs moved, trapping him with the dog.

Harry screamed and (as if on instinct) flung himself backwards away from the dog as it lunged at him causing Harry to start falling. Harry continued to scream as the stairs continued to shift away from him, forcing him to continue to fall farther and farther. Harry, desperate to stop or slow his descent, released his magic and allowed it to lash out to try and find something to grip onto. Was this the one time that time wasn't going to rewind? Harry thought as he could feel the ground rushing up to meet him. And just as his back came in contact with the ground, Harry felt that now familiar sensation in his mind as the world slowed to a stop as he breathed what would have been his last breath, before the world quickly began to rewind.

Harry blinked and fell to his knees as his mind tried to wrap around the fact that he was not dead anymore. He heard the faint voices of people calling his name. Harry felt his stomach give a lurch and soon he was emptying his stomach as tears began to fall from his eyes. Someone quickly gathered up his hair to keep it from getting covered in. He would have actually died had time not rewound when it did. Someone yelled for a Professor. Harry began to cough and gag, he couldn't breathe!

Warm, calloused hands gently, yet firmly, took him by the face and forced him to look at whoever now held his face. His eyes were unfocused, everything around him was nothing but a blur. He heard a familiar voice talking to him calmly, but he couldn't understand them. The person continued to speak to him calmly. Slowly, ever so slowly, the world began to clear up.

"-that's it, just breathe." Professor McGonagall told him. "In and out. Deep, calming breaths." Her voice was soothing, washing away all his worries, "That's it, just like that."

"Hey, kiddo." Remus whispered calmly as he knelt down next to McGonagall. "I'm here now, you're safe." Remus reached out and ran a hand through Harry's sweat coated hair.

"I died." Harry croaked out, reaching out for his dad. Remus quickly pulled him into his arms.

"You didn't die, you're here, in my arms." Remus told him gently as the man shifted so that he was now sitting on the ground with Harry curled in his lap. Professor McGonagall, sure that Harry would be all right in Remus's care, stood up and focused her attention on the crowd of students that were watching the scene.

"I died." Harry repeated, tears falling from his eyes.

"I'm going to do something your birth father used to do and say to me whenever I thought I had died." Remus whispered to him before he shifted so that Harry's ear was now pressed up against his chest, allowing Harry to hear the man's beating heart. And though the man was acting calm and collected, Harry could hear from the pounding of the man's heart that Remus was nowhere close to being calm, he was scared, terrified of what was happening to his adopted son.

"Do you hear that?" Remus asked and Harry nodded. Remus carefully tugged at Harry's hair just hard enough to sting a little. "Do you feel that?"

"Yes." Harry whispered. Remus took hold of Harry's hand and gripped it tightly.

"Do you feel my skin against yours?" Remus asked and Harry nodded. "Do you feel my body heat?" Harry nodded. "What does it feel like to you?"

"Warm." Harry answered.

"Good, because you feel warm to me, too. And that tells me that you are alive. I can hear your heart beating, I can feel you breathing, your hands are warm, you are alive. You feel pain, you feel scared, and you feel that way because you are alive." Remus told him. "And for that I am thankful. I am thankful that you are still alive, that you are here with me. I am thankful that my world still has you in it. I am thankful that I got to know you, that you have allowed me into your world. I am thankful that I get to see you smile, cry, get angry, and laugh, I am thankful that you are alive." The two sat curled together, taking comfort from each other. "Thank you for not dying." Remus whispered.

"I shall alert the other Professors that Harry is in no condition to continue classes today." Professor McGonagall informed Remus softly, as if afraid to end the moment that father and son were having. Remus took a deep, shaky breath before turning his attention to the woman.

"Thank you, I think I'll take Harry back to mine and Severus's shared rooms to rest. Please escort Mind Healer Krystin there when you can." Remus said as he easily stood up with Harry in his arms.

"Should I also send Mr Malfoy that way, or should I wait until Harry has calmed down some more?" McGonagall asked.

"I think if would be safest for us to wait a little while before allowing anyone around Harry." Remus told her, a hint of a growl in his voice. It took Harry's frazzled mind to work out that it wasn't Harry's safety that they were worried about, but Draco's safety. With his worry and fear over Harry, Remus didn't feel confident enough to hold his wolf back should someone outside his pack hold Harry. Remus knew that Draco would want to hold Harry tight after the scare this had caused.

As Remus carried Harry past McGonagall, Harry's hand shot out to grab the woman's arm. "Beware the dog." He told her urgently before his energy left him and he passed out.