Author Notes: Hello! Thank you for the alerts, favs and wonderful reviews. Enjoy this next chapter :)
Warnings: This is an experiment mixing my preference with my daughter's who is the co-author of this story. Hence, there are two OCs, some OOCness, some fluff and a general disregard for the more serious incidents in canon.
- Chapter Start -
Severus wasn't in the least bit surprised when Potter just blinked at him.
"Spots?"
"Spots," Severus confirmed. "Stop scratching."
"What kind of spots?"
"Purple ones. Stop scratching."
"Are they contagious?"
"Most likely. Stop scratching!"
"I can't, my neck's itching like crazy!"
"I will put you in a full body bind if you don't stop this instant!"
They glared at each other then, Severus with his arms folded across his chest and Potter still with one hand at his neck. Severus could tell the two kittens on his shoulders had leaned backwards - each were pulling on one of his ears - and were likely exchanging looks behind his head.
Potter's green eyes shifted to the right and left, cementing his suspicions, and then their mutinous glare softened. He shrugged and lowered his hand. "I'll try."
Severus gave a curt nod. He had no intention of letting Potter stay in his quarters a minute longer, but he had to make sure the boy didn't scratch his neck raw before he could get to the Infirmary. He didn't want to look too closely at the reason for that.
"I will give you something to apply before you go to Madam Pomfrey. Wait here."
Sweeping to his store cupboard, Severus pursed his lips when he saw he was down to his last jar of Numbing Salve. It was a large jar, the same size as the one he had given Poppy earlier, but he made a note to brew another batch tonight. Merlin knew how many more Gryffindors would be infected by tomorrow morning. He picked up the jar as well as a vial of Fever Reducer and turned around.
Potter was no longer standing by the door.
"Meow."
Following the direction of little paws pushing against his cheek, Severus turned his head and narrowed his eyes when he saw the brat had made himself comfortable on his sofa once more. He stalked over to him with a scathing 'I did not give you permission to sit down, Potter!' dancing on the tip of his tongue. Before he could utter those words, Caramel and Velvet - curious little things that they were - jumped off his shoulders and landed neatly in Potter's lap. They stretched up to peer at his neck as they meowed their concern, tiny paws resting on his chest.
"I'll be fine," Potter told them tightly, hands fisted by his sides in an obvious attempt to stop scratching. "I just don't know how I got these spots."
Severus stopped by the sofa and opened the jar of salve, scooping up some of the thick white cream with a small spatula.
"Caramel, Velvet, get down. You two are in the way," he told the kittens before handing the spatula to Potter, keeping his expression neutral when their fingers touched.
"Apply this on your neck. It should numb the itching."
"Yes, sir."
"I said apply it, Potter, not scratch it in."
"I - OK."
"You are still scratching."
"I can't help it!"
"You must. That salve cannot to be used on an open wound."
"Meow." (Listen to Severus, Harry.)
"Meow!" (No, Harry. Scratch it, scratch it!)
"Meow!" (He's not supposed to, Caramel!)
"Meoooooow!" (But scratching an itch feels goooood!)
"Meow!" (He's not a cat!)
"Meow!" (It doesn't matter!)
Severus shook his head at the animated discussion and looked back at Potter only to find him happily scoring his neck with the side of the spatula, angry red lines appearing amidst the purple spots.
"I told you no scratching," he growled. "Of all the dunderheaded -" Grabbing Potter's wrist with one hand, he wrested the spatula away with the other. "I will do it!"
The two kittens immediately stopped meowing and stared up at him, Caramel with a disapproving look and Velvet with an excited one. Potter just gaped up at him as if he had been asked to strip naked.
"W-what?"
Severus could feel a muscle twitching at the side of his tightly clenched jaw. It was only because Potter could not stop scratching to save his life, he told himself. That and the fact that the brat was in his quarters now and therefore his responsibility. Nothing else. No other reason either.
"Tip your head back," he ordered.
Still looking rather stunned, Potter tipped his chin up and swallowed. The sight of that Adam's apple bobbing up and down that long neck made Severus thankful the skin was now marred with purple spots, red scratches and white cream. Otherwise, he might be tempted to lean further down and -
Squashing that thought, he bent down to apply the salve in long and even strokes, ignoring Potter's shallow breathing. When Caramel and Velvet stretched up on their hind legs again to take a closer look, he stopped and glared at them.
"Get down if you don't want your noses to turn numb."
Pouting, they settled down in Potter's lap again. Severus noted the boy's hands were still tightly fisted by his sides.
"Does your neck still itch?"
At the frantic nod, he applied a second layer of cream, taking note of the faint stubble on Potter's chin.
"How about now?"
At the hesitant nod, he applied a third layer, conscious of the swift rise and fall of Potter's chest.
"That should do it. No, do not touch your neck."
Potter lowered his hand and inhaled deeply before Severus could straighten up. He let it out on a long slow sigh, lips quirking in a tiny smile of relief.
"Thank you, sir."
Severus ignored both the smile and the thanks. He thrust out the vial instead.
"Fever Reducer."
Potter uncorked the vial and drank it down, making a face at the unpleasant taste. As soon as he handed it back to Severus, Caramel and Velvet climbed into his arms and started purring.
"No, he is not staying here a second longer," Severus told them and jerked his head at the door. "Off to the Infirmary, Potter. I will floo call Madam Pomfrey and tell her to expect you."
Without waiting for a reply, he moved over to the fireplace, the fingers of his free hand digging inside the neck of his dressing gown.
"Sir?"
Severus glanced over his shoulder to see Potter looking at him with a quizzical frown on his face.
"What?" he snapped.
"Your neck... you're scratching at it."
- o -
Fifteen minutes later...
"Me-oo-ww..." (Severus and Harry...)
"Meow!" (Not again, Velvet!)
"Me-oo-ww..." (Lying in a bed...)
"Meow!" (It's 'beds', not 'bed'!)
"M-e-e-o-" (K-I-S-S-)
"Meowr!" (They are not kissing! Not now and not ever!)
"Ladies, please," Severus groaned to the two kittens standing on his chest and glaring at each other. His bed at the far corner of the Infirmary was curtained off to afford some privacy, but Poppy hadn't cast any silencing spells before confiscating his and Potter's wands. She was sure to appear at any moment to-
Right on cue, the curtains at the foot of his bed were yanked aside and there she was, complete with annoyed frown, pursed lips and hands on hips.
"Severus, really! No familiars in my Infirmary and that includes yours!" Picking up a hissing kitten in each hand, Poppy disappeared, leaving behind a two foot gap in the curtains and an expectant hush from the other patients.
Raising his head up off the pillow, Severus found himself looking at the Creevey brothers in the two beds opposite him, staring at him in somewhat terrified fascination. In the next moment, their faces were blocked by Potter's contrite one as he gently pulled the curtains closed.
Severus lay back down, scowling as the next bed creaked as if someone had climbed onto it. This was all Potter's fault, he fumed to himself.
- o -
Caramel and Velvet meowed and struggled as they found themselves swiftly carried out of the Infirmary by the scruffs of their necks. Their struggles were in vain, tiny paws paddling fruitlessly in midair.
"Now, you two can choose to wait here or at your master's quarters, but not a paw inside my Infirmary. Is that understood?"
With that stern admonishment, they were dropped onto the floor of the corridor, quite without ceremony. They stared at each other for a moment and spun around only to see the double doors closing.
"Meow!" (She's closing the doors!)
"Meow!" (Quickly!)
Too late. The doors shut with a definite, no nonsense click, and the two kittens bounced off it. They ended up on their haunches, rubbing their bumped noses and pouting at each other.
"Meow!" (We're too late!)
"Meow." (Now we can't take care of Severus.)
"Meow." (Or Harry.)
"Meow?" (Let's wait here. Someone is bound to come along sooner or later, right?)
"Meow!" (That's a good idea, Caramel!)
With resolute nods, the two kittens settled down to wait.
To be continued...
A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review?