Pretty Kitty

A few hours later, the compartment door slid open. Harry looked up from where he was sat beside Fred, having escaped from George's lap. Fred's head was resting on his shoulder and the redhead appeared to be near sleep.

“Can I sit here? Someone else took my compartment when I went to the bathroom,” a dreamy voice asked, and Harry looked up to see a dazed blond girl standing in the doorway, holding a magazine, a pencil behind one ear. Harry ogled at her strange earrings.

“Uh, sure,” Harry told her, being the only one awake enough to answer. George had fallen asleep some time ago, cheek pressed against the window, and Lee was sprawled against George in a way that had made Fred smirk and order a passing by Colin Creevey to take a picture. Harry had just laughed.

“Thanks,” the girl said, sitting down on the same seat as Lee and George, and opening her magazine. Harry noted, bemusedly, that it was upside down. This girl was... strange, but he didn't dare ask her name. She seemed rather engrossed in her upside-down paper, and he let her have at it. He was content to stare out of the window, occasionally running a hand through Fred's hair.

After another half an hour, Harry was snapped out of his light doze when Fred stirred, head moving and causing his hair to tickle Harry's neck. Harry chuckled and squirmed, and Fred lifted his head.

“Hey,” he murmured sleepily, kissing Harry's lips softly. Harry smiled in contentment, kissing back before pulling away, aware of the crazy girl lowering her reading material to stare at them blatantly. Fred kissed his nose and lifted a hand to rub Harry's ears, unaware of the girl. Harry moved into the touch, blinking slowly at Fred.

“He just kissed you,” the girl suddenly said, causing Fred to jump a mile high and turn to stare at her. He sighed, placing a hand on his heart.

“Oh, it's just you, Loony,” he said. She raised an eyebrow and Harry lightly smacked Fred upside the head for the insult. Honestly, he had no manners.

“Anyway, you should kiss him back,” 'Loony' told Fred, who looked very confused, but not really surprised. Harry didn't blame him, she seemed like the type to spout nonsense at inappropriate times. “When he blinked at you. It was like a kiss. You return it, and he'll do it again.”

“Don't talk about me like I'm not in the room,” Harry muttered angrily, crossing his arms. Fred rolled his eyes and turned back to Harry, catching his eyes and blinking slowly. Harry grinned and blinked back at him, before shaking his head.

“Wait, no, what? Stop that!” he snapped when Fred continued to blink at him. Fred laughed and wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulder, looking thrilled at the discovery, although Harry had no clue why. It was just a blink, not a 'kiss', like Loony said. Just a blink to show how happy he was...

“Thanks, Lovegood,” Fred told the girl. Loony Lovegood, what an unfortunate name. Loony merely smiled at Fred, and fixed Harry with an intense gaze. He pressed back into his seat, feeling vaguely uncomfortable at those large, dreamy blue eyes pinning him to his seat.

“No problem, the Cattus Alio really interest me. My dad and I've been searching for them for years; they're mainly in hiding. We were both so glad to learn that Harry Potter had embraced his feline side, fighting for the rights of all the Cattus Alio out there who are oppressed by the Ministry,” she said. Harry's eyes widened the more she talked. Dear Merlin, she was insane.

“I'm a... what?” he asked hesitantly, not entirely certain he wanted to know. Loony smiled at him indulgently.

“It's Latin for Cat Person, because that name sounds very crude, and the Cattus Alio are a regal race. I'm sure they'd be happy to welcome you into their fold,” she told him matter-of-factly. Harry stared at her incredulously.

“Right, well... I'll keep that in mind,” he told her, figuring it wouldn't be worth it telling her that he hadn't been born this way, it was due to a potion. She looked like the type who would disregard that information completely, anyway.

“We've already met a few Cattus Alio, you know. Very friendly, Harry and them got on with each other like a house on fire, you know?” Fred told Loony, who nodded excitedly, as if knowing exactly what Fred was getting at. Harry clamped a hand on Fred's mouth and silenced him with a glare.

They three looked up when the door slid open again, and Harry sagged in relief when Ron and Hermione stepped through, Ron sitting down next to Harry and Fred, and then making the two scoot up so Hermione could sit down.

Fred grinned and pulled Harry into his lap, and the boy couldn't struggle, considering that, when Hermione sat down, there'd be no-where else for him to sit.

However, Hermione stood in the doorway, eyeing Loony.

“Hello, Luna,” she finally said, a hint of exasperation in her voice. Ohhh, that's her name? Harry thought, and then mentally berated himself for believing, even for a second, that her name was actually Loony Lovegood. Especially when it was Fred that said it.

“Hermione, Ronald,” Luna greeted, a little bit stiffly, before going back to her magazine. Hermione sniffed and took the seat next to Ron, smiling at Harry.

“Gosh, prefecting is a blast!” she said enthusiastically, while Ron groaned and rolled his eyes. George lifted his head from Lee's shoulder, smirking at his brother. By the looks of it, he hadn't just woken up, either.

“Aww, did big bad Ronny tell off any of those naughty first years?” George asked patronisingly. Ron grit his teeth.

“Shut up! Just because no-one trusts you enough to be a prefect,” Ron snapped. Fred and George both started laughing at that, and Ron's ears flamed red. Hermione sighed and patted Ron's head before turning stern looks upon the two laughing twins.

“Stop teasing him, it's an honour to be a prefect, and you should respect his authority!” she told them, causing them both to dissolve into more laughter. George had sunk against Lee, unable to hold himself up and causing Lee to wake up with a snort. Fred was clinging to Harry, who was warily watching his rather disturbed boyfriend.

Fred looked up and blinked at him slowly, causing Harry to return it, then wrench his eyes away and scowl. Fred smirked and kissed Harry's tensed jaw.

Harry quickly scrambled out of Fred's hold and moved over to sit with George, wedging himself between George and Luna.

“Aww, kitten, don't be like that,” Fred whined, but Harry merely glared and George sent Fred a smug look. Hermione was busy reassuring Ron that that he was, in fact, a manly-man, and not a ponce like Fred and George were implying. Luna was reading her magazine and Lee was studying her with interest.

“Oh yeah, George, Lee, this is Luna Lovegood. Don't think you two have had the pleasure of her company,” Fred told George and Lee, catching Lee's stare, and winking at Harry when the boy turned to look at him.

“So you're that Loon- I mean, that Luna girl people have told me about,” George said, leaning over Harry to shake Luna's hand when the girl set down her magazine. George's mouth brushed Harry's cat ear provocatively. Luna smiled and shook George's hand, and then nodded at Lee, the two not able to reach each other's hand without some awkwardness.

George wrapped an arm around Harry's waist, his other hand cupping Harry's jaw and turning the boys head to his. He slowly blinked at Harry, who did the same back. George grinned and turned to Fred.

“What does it mean?” he asked excitedly, while Harry rolled his eyes. Hermione was smiling at him softly.

“It's sort of like a kiss. Crookshanks sometimes does it, and I looked it up. It's probably a sign of contentment, but if he blinks, and then you do, he'll return it. Or, apparently, if you start it, he'll return it, by the looks of things,” Hermione told them, as if reading from the big encyclopaedia of cats. George grinned, rubbing Harry's ears with the hand that had been cupping the boys jaw, placating Harry, who was rather put-out about, once again, being talking about like he wasn't around.

“Our pretty kitty is just soo cute,” George cooed. Harry hissed at him in return.

XxXxXxX

As always, walking into the Great Hall filled Harry with overwhelming happiness, as he looked up at the enchanted ceiling, seeing the clear night's sky, and then around at the house tables, jammed with members of every house, and more spilling in through the doors.

George steered him over to Gryffindor Table while Harry looked around excitedly, pricked cat ears catching more than usual. His tail flicked with agitation under his robes and he steadfastly ignored the comments made about his ears. He'd have to get used to it, because wearing a hat all year would be ridiculous. That, and the twins would make it their goal to steal his hat.

He sat down at the table, next to George and across from Fred, with Ron sitting at his other side and Hermione sitting next to him. The table filled up further, with Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell coming to sit near them, Angelina next to Fred and Katie next to George. Harry narrowed his eyes when he remembered the twins going to the ball with those two, before he shook off the strange, angry feeling.

The sorting began with a chilling song from the Sorting Hat, making everyone whisper uneasily to one another while clapping hesitantly. Hermione looked grave, as did George, who was muttering something to Katie. Katie frowned as well, casting a look to the Sorting Hat. Ron made a comment about the hat branching out, which Harry agreed with.

“Has it ever done something like this before?” Hermione asked. Nearly Headless Nick took this moment to perk up from his seat next to Neville, two down from Fred. Harry felt rather sorry for Neville when Nick went right through him. Not the nicest sensation.

“Indeed it has. The Hat feels itself honour-bound to give the school due warning when-” However, Nick caught the fiery glare McGonagall was giving those who were whispering, and he shook his head, placing a finger to his lips, and leaning back. Neville sighed in relief, shivering.

While the sorting took place, Harry lazily scanned the Staff table, frowning when he caught sight of a familiar short woman who sat at the table, smug smile on her face, looking remarkably like a toad. Harry's eyes widened, and he nudged Ron, who had been looking down at his empty plate rather mournfully.

“She was at my trial,” Harry murmured, nodding his head at the woman. Ron frowned, studying her, before turning to Harry.

“Ministry worker?” he asked quietly, and Harry nodded. Ron looked uneasy. “Hope she's not actually working here.” Harry hoped Ron hadn’t just created a jinx.

At this moment, Hermione leaned across, gesturing to the Staff table and, more precisely, the seat next to a very sour looking Snape. Harry's eyes widened when he saw who it was.

“It's Charlie!” Ron whispered in awe. “How'd he get there?” he asked, shaking his head. “He's supposed to be working with his bloody dragons.”

“Maybe he's the new Defence teacher?” Harry suggested hopefully, because it was either Charlie or the toad-woman. George turned to them and shook his head rather solemnly, knowing what Harry was getting at.

“Nah, he's the guard Dumbledore's got to look after you, I reckon. That other one's not in the Order, too high up on the food chain at the Ministry. Umbridge, I think dad said her name was. He's not keen on her,” he murmured to them. “Doesn't see why Dumbledore hired her.”

“She doesn't look like the best Defence teacher ever,” Harry muttered, glaring balefully. She looked like she didn't even know the easiest of defensive spells and didn’t care to, if her oblivious reaction to the Hat’s song was anything to go by. “I'll bet Lockhart's better than she is.” George laughed slightly, ruffling Harry's messy hair, before turning to Katie when the girl tugged on his arm.

Harry's glare turned to Katie, before he leaned into George, nuzzling his nose into the young man's shoulder, and allowing his claws to unfurl. He lightly scratched downwards at George through the redhead's clothing, causing George to turn and frown at Harry's unusual behaviour. At least he wasn't trying to be painful in his scratches.

“Erm, Harry?” George whispered, pulling Harry's hand away from his chest in case Harry should choose to sink his claws in. Harry pulled away, crossing his arms rather angrily, at both himself for acting like some territorial cat, and at George for not letting him. It was a conflicting anger.

Fred and Angelina were eyeing him rather strangely over the table, as well as Ron. However, Hermione was chuckling to herself, and Harry shot her a dark stare at her. He really wished she didn't live with a cat. She knew too much.

Hermione whispered something to Ron, who turned to him, grinning, and shook his head. Harry lifted a clawed hand threateningly.

The sorting had finished by this time, and Dumbledore stood to make his non-speech.

“To new students, welcome! To old students, welcome back,” he greeted, smiling at them all warmly, “There has never been a worse time for speech making, so, dig in!” he announced and, as he sat down, the plates filled with mountains of food.

Ron groaned appreciatively, immediately grabbing a large spoon from one of the food bowls and lumping mashed potatoes onto his plate, followed by beans and shepherd’s pie. He then proceeded to pick up a fork and stuff some into his mouth, letting out another pleasure-filled groan. Hermione made a disgusted sound, and he looked at her.

“Wha’?” he asked, food flying everywhere. Harry laughed at the expression on Hermione's face when she was sprayed with mashed potato.

Harry turned back to his plate, surprised to see food piled upon it. George raised an eyebrow at him.

“Eat it,” he ordered sternly, and Harry rolled his eyes. Fred was no help either, raising an eyebrow at Harry, his smirk promising bad things if Harry didn't eat. It wasn't like he wasn't going to eat anything, for Merlin's sake!

The two watched him eat a few forkfuls before, finally, they stopped their scrutiny. Had they continued, Harry was sure he would have lost his appetite. The two were sometimes a bit too much.

But he was very well aware that he was falling in love with them, insanely intense or not. His protests had nothing behind them, he was acting bloody jealous over the thought of some girls coming onto them, and they still punctuated his dreams frequently.

He didn't know what he'd do if he lost them.

Which was why he spent most of dinner clinging to George's side, rubbing his head under the other boy's chin whenever Katie got too friendly. He was acting stupid and he knew it. Katie was a nice girl, friendly and kind, but he couldn't help it.

When dessert came and Harry showed no intention of detaching himself from George's side to eat, George fed him some chocolate pudding, smiling at the way Harry was acting. It was completely adorable, and the fact that Harry was getting jealous made him feel warm inside. And it was the same with Fred, Harry glaring daggers when Angelina got too friendly.

George smiled at Harry softly, and the smile widened when Harry blinked up at George slowly, something the teen hadn't noticed Harry did, even though he did so frequently. George blinked back at him, then kissed Harry on the forehead. Fred grinned at the two.

XxXxXxX

“Hey, Charlie!” Fred called out as he, George and Harry made their way to the Staff table when the meal was finished. Though rather perturbed by Umbridge's strange speech and Hermione's subsequent explanation of it, they still wanted to see Charlie.

“Hey guys,” Charlie greeted, accepting a manly hug from George and patting Fred on the back, before ruffling Harry's hair. The man pulled back, looking apologetic. “Sorry, just got some weird urge. Might be the whole... cat... thing.”

Harry shrugged. All number of people had ruffled his hair this summer; what was one more person, even if he didn't know Charlie very well?

“You the guard Dumbledore asked for?” Fred asked, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulder and touching their foreheads together. Charlie raised an eyebrow at the action; it seemed the twins weren't going to change their attitude around Harry even in public.

“Yeah, I'm to follow Harry around all day, but I don't have to go into the common room or watch Harry sleep like some strange stalker,” Charlie said, laughing at the relief on Harry's face. And Fred and George's, actually. “I get my own quarters. Near old Snape's, as a matter of fact.” Charlie looked very happy about this, the twins noticed.

“I'd have thought that'd be a nightmare. He might attack you in your sleep, the old bat,” George said, and then looked flabbergasted when Charlie smirked to himself, going off into his own little world. The twins shifted uneasily.

“Well, we've got to get Harry here back to the common room. He's a growing boy, needs his sleep.”

“Don't worry, we'll take care of our little kitty, no need to be a scary stalker tonight.”

“Go have fun tonight-”

“-But not too much fun!” Fred finished, dragging Harry away. Harry frowned, wondering what on earth the twins were going on about. He looked back, seeing Charlie looking vaguely embarrassed. Harry turned back to the twins.

“What was that about?” he demanded to know. They turned to him, and George kissed his nose.

“We'll tell you when you're older.”

XxXxXxX

Haha, I just had to do a jealous Harry in this. Also, I credit a lot of this chapter to Cursa on FF. She gave me some of the ideas used in this (eg- The cat kiss idea, where they blink slowly, and the scratching to mark something) although I haven't used them 'till now, so thanks ;;hugs;;
I have ideas for the prank, a big thanks to Inumaru12, although I have so much planned at the moment, it may be a while before anything happens.
Thanks to all readers and reviews, I love you all, as always!

Edited 30/12/10