The Owl's Nest

A/N: This chapter is more or less a filler, to appease my dear beta and best friend, who wanted a soft kitty Harry with wings.

Harry ran into the Transfigurations classroom, his transfigured pup behind him. He'd barely made it in time for class due to a bout of morning sickness as he was leaving the greenhouse. Taking a deep breath, he sat down at a desk and put his bag underneath it.

"As you are not quite late, I will not retract any house points but you would do well to ensure that you are not cutting it that close to the wire any longer, Mr. Potter."

"Yes, Professor McGonagall. It won't happen again, ma'am."

Professor McGonagall nodded and turned to the class. "Today we will continue our work on transfiguring an inanimate object into an animate object. I assume, Mr. Potter, that the dog currently growling at me from your desk is your object."

Harry nodded and put one hand on the pup's neck, calming the dog. "Yes, Se- Professor Snape has given me permission to keep him until the spell wears off."

Professor McGonagall showed signs of smiling before she turned to the rest of the class, giving them instructions and watching as they pulled out pieces of parchment. Soon, the room was full of paper with frog legs, dog tongues, cat ears, and the worst, a horse's tail. No one other than Harry had been able to completely transfigure his or her parchment.

Neville Longbottom looked at his parchment again and pulled out his wand, determined to get this transfiguration correct. Taking a deep breath, he swished his wand to the right and in a clockwise circle, mumbling the spell he was supposed to use. "Transfiguro Cattus." At the last minute, he slipped and pointed his wand up, directly at Harry.

Before Harry knew what was happening, he was on the floor of the Transfiguration classroom, looking up at people who shouldn't be as tall as they were. He tilted his head and looked over at Hermione, who had her hands over her mouth. He opened his mouth to ask her what happened.

"Mew?"

Hermione gasped and knelt down next to him. "Oh dear. Harry, I think Neville just transfigured you into a cat."

Harry looked down at his hands, surprised to see black paws there instead. He turned his head to look behind him, surprised to see that he still had his wings. He looked back at Hermione and put a paw on her knee.

"Mew?" He wanted to ask her to take him to Severus, but in his current state, he couldn't talk.

Hermione reached down to pick up the kitten, but before she could, Harry's transfigured pup had picked him up by the scruff and taken off out of the room. Hermione and Ron immediately ran after the pup, not wanting their friend to get hurt.

To their surprise, the pup carried Harry to the Potions lab and set him down in front of a startled Severus Snape.

"What is the meaning of this?" Severus picked up the kitten, noting the deep green eyes and the wings. "How exactly did Mr. Potter become a cat?"

Hermione, the first to catch her breath, looked at the Potions Master and smiled slightly. "Neville was trying to cast the spell to turn parchment into an animal, but his wand slipped and instead he turned Harry into a cat. Before we could bring him here, his… dog did."

Severus looked back at the black bundle in his hands and fought a smile. "You, Mr. Potter have a way of getting yourself into the most unfortunate situations. Very well. I thank you, Miss Granger for ensuring that my wayward mate was safely delivered to my arms. Now, if you do not mind, I have a Potions class to excuse and a foolish Gryffindor to reprimand."

Severus turned to the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws who were staring at him with wide eyes and snapped at them. "As you can see, I have more pressing matters to tend to than pretending that any of you have even an abysmal chance at becoming Potions masters. Do us all a favor and return to the library, your common rooms, or anywhere. Just get out of my lab."

Not waiting to watch the students file out of his lab, Severus turned on his heel and walked through his office to his private chambers, knowing that the transfigured dog was following him faithfully.

"Now, Mr. Potter, I'm afraid I cannot force you to change back because of your… delicate condition. Rather, you will have to wait until Mr. Longbottom's spell has worn off. Until then, you are, unfortunately, a cat. Do not scratch my furniture, Potter or you will discover why cats hate water as much as they do."

He set the cat down on the sofa and left the room to gather the supplies he would need for his mate for as long as the boy was stuck in his feline form.

SSHP

Harry jumped off the couch, intrigued by all the smells that he was noticing in this form. The puppy followed him cautiously, making sure he didn't get into anything dangerous. He explored every nook and cranny of Severus's rooms that he could access in his small body.

When Severus returned, Harry was curled up in front of the fireplace, his pup at his back. He woke up when his mate picked him up, but soon curled back up into sleep as Severus merely carried him into the bedroom and placed him in the middle of the mattress.

Severus sighed, seemingly put out because Harry was still a cat. He didn't know why his mate cared though. He liked being a cat. There were so many different things he could explore as a cat, and it was easier to find a place to hide. But as his mate prepared for bed, Harry found that being a cat could be torture too. Looking at his mate's bare skin made him realize that Severus hadn't so much as touched him in a sexual manner since he ran to the owlery.

Discontent settled over the small body and he crawled up to a pillow, wanting to be as close to Severus as possible. When Severus joined him on the bed, he attempted to curl up into his mate's side, only to be returned to the opposite side of the bed.

"I do not practice bestiality, Mr. Potter, nor will I cuddle with a cat. Should you wish to sleep in my arms, you will have to wait until you are human once more."

Harry curled up on his pillow and mewled his unhappiness, watching as his mate fell asleep.