"Albus," Harry greeted as he opened the door to Grimmauld Place. He frowned slightly at the yellow robes the man was wearing combined with a yellow hat with bright blue dots. He looked like an Easter chicken that had run away in the middle of august. In his hand he looked to be carrying a large case.

"What brings you here?" he asked to distract himself from the horrid outfit the man was wearing. Was the man colour blind or did he simply not care about what he was wearing? Harry opened the door and welcomed the headmaster into the house.

"Oh, just dropping by to tell you that I will be leaving the country for a little while before school starts again." Dumbledore followed him into the hallway and further into the kitchen.

"Tea?" Harry asked motioning towards the pot on the table as well as a half filled cup that Harry had been drinking from when he was interrupted by the knock on his door early in the morning on a Sunday.

"Yes, please." Dumbledore put the case, crate, cage? Harry was unsure exactly what the man was carrying. A hissing sound came from it and Harry paused in the process of placing a cup in front of Dumbledore.

"Did your case just hiss?" he asked with a frown and put the cup down on the table.

"Yes," Dumbledore answered and poured himself a cup of tea. Harry remained standing looking at the case until Dumbledore looked up from his cup with a questioning look in his blue eyes.

"How are you finding the house then, Harry?"

The house? Harry tore his eyes away from the case and looked at Dumbledore. "The house?" He repeated, not quite grasping the question, as he took his seat.

Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, are you liking it here? I understand you and Kreacher have reached an understanding and that you had late Lady Black´s portrait removed?"

"Oh, yes. Yes. I do like it. It´s still a bit dark and gloomy but we are painting and bringing in some new furniture and plants. Hermione keeps dragging me to Ikea for shopping. I think she enjoys it more than I do." Harry smiled and took a sip from his cup. It was getting cold so he cast a quick reheating charm on it before taking another sip.

"The garden is however in a dreadful state, but it´s getting there, I´ve been tending to it most of the summer. There are some interesting, magical plants growing out there as well. Also I love how secluded the gardens is with all the wards and safeguards that are in place."

The case made another sound and Harry stared at it. Dumbledore seemed to completely ignore it.

"Have you decided on what you want to do now that you are finished at Hogwarts, my boy?"

Harry looked at him, confused. "We are at war, Headmaster, I don´t exactly have time to look for a day time job in between the raids, meetings, paper work and so on. That, and there is no guarantee that I´ll actually will survive this war."

"Have faith, Harry. Everything will end as fate wants."

Harry raised an eyebrow. Yes, because that made everything more reassuring.

"My I ask, Headmaster, why are you here? Is there any news about Voldemort? He has been quiet the whole summer, and you mentioned something about traveling?"

Dumbledore looked surprised for a moment, as if he had forgotten why he was there in the first place. "Yes. I´ll be leaving for a little while. Nothing to worry about," he smiled. "I´ll be back before school starts."

Harry nodded and emptied his cup. There was no use asking the older man where he was going because he knew he wouldn´t get a sensible answer.

"The other reason I came by, is this," Dumbledore continued and lifted the strange, hissing case up on the table. He waved his wand and the case disappeared to reveal a cat carrier. It contained a rather large, short haired, completely black cat, with a long tail that was swishing back and forth. The cat was staring at Dumbledore, medium sized ears pinned flat.

"A cat?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore smiled and reach in to pet the cat, which retaliated by trying to bit him. He quickly retracted his hand before smiling once more.

"A stray," he explained. "I found it wandering around, alone and cold. I thought you might take it in? I´m unfortunately," there was a small pause, "allergic to cats. And I travel fare too much to take care of it."

The ears on the cat flattened even more. It hissed and a growl came from it.

Harry stared from the cat to Dumbledore and back to the cat.

"You know I have an owl, right? I´m not sure how well she would get along with a cat," he trailed of as Dumbledore waved his hand in a `no problem´ gesture.

"I´m sure they´ll get a long just fine." There was a small emphasis on fine as the man stared down at the cat, which hissed back. "

"You sure it doesn´t have an owner?" Harry asked, noticing the black collar with what looked like expensive gems.

"Yes, quite sure. The collar is one I purchased. It will protect it, and it will also keep it from leaving your property and make it possible for you to track it through the tracking charm I´ve placed on it. I´ve charmed it to include this house and the garden, but the cat will not be able to go further."

Harry sighed. "Why not give it to Ron and `Mione? She loves cats, and Ron can´t say no to her."

Dumbledore smiled. "I think it would be happier her to be honest. And you need someone in this house beside yourself. Cats are said to be great company."

The cat growled. Yes, Harry thought. The cat looked like wonderful company.

"Shall we let it out? I think it is quite upset about being locked up. Took me quite some time to catch it. And I have checked with the people in the neighbourhood, but no one had seen the cat before." Dumbledore slowly opened the door to the carrier and turned it so that the opening was turned towards Harry.

One, black, paw was delicately placed on the table as the cat came sliding out of the carrier, looking like a black panther. The ears were still pinned back. And if looks could kill, Harry thought, then Dumbledore would be six feet under. The cat looked away from Dumbledore and met Harry´s gaze.

"Uhm," Harry said staring at the large, black cat. The eyes staring back at him was deadly, sharp and filled with something Harry couldn´t quite name. "Why does it have red eyes?"

Dumbledore laughed softly and the cat whipped his head around to look at him. "I believe it might have belonged to a wizard or witch. Cats bred by our kind often have slightly unusual eye colours.

Harry found himself nodding, too mesmerized by the crimson eyes that had come back around to look at him. The ears were slightly lifted now, but it still looked furious. "I don´t think it likes me," he said. The cat looked like it wanted to kill him slowly and painfully.

"Oh, it will come around." Dumbledore stood and gathered his robes. "It is just scared and unsure. Some food and rest and I´m sure it will be more than happy to stay here." The last part was pointedly directed at the cat, which growled low in it´s throat.

"I´ll be of my dear boy, but I´ll send you an owl when I return." Dumbledore started walking towards the entrance door. Harry edged around the table, carefully keeping an eye on the cat in the middle of the table.

"Headmaster," he called following the other man out into the entrance hall. "Is it a he, a she? Does it have name?" he inquired, looking over his shoulder to check that the cat remained on the table.

"I believe it is a he, and no I don´t believe he do," Dumbledore smiled before walking out and apparating away.

Great, Harry thought, just great. He closed the door and returned to the kitchen.

The cat was still in the middle of the table. It had sat down, but it´s tail was still twirling rapidly from side to side. The ears had however straightened. It stared at Harry with unblinking red eyes.

"So, I guess you´re staying. Welcome." Harry stood awkwardly in the doorway. Was it normal to be intimated by a cat? The cat blinked slowly. The tail slowed down and it curled around him.

"I guess we should find a name for you. I can´t keep calling you cat." Harry took a step into the room and sat down in the chair he had left. The cat turned to follow him.

"You know, with those eyes it´s tempting to call you Tom," Harry laughed. The cat hissed, ears pinned and continued to growl.

Harry laughed, he couldn´t help him self. "You react just like he does when someone uses that name. Not Tom then? I guess I can´t call you Voldemort unless I want to scare everyone half to death every time I call for you." The cat looked slightly pleased at that prospect. Harry frowned. Definitly not Voldemort. "How about Fluffy?" he said, trying to keep a straight face.

The cat growled.

"No?" Harry thought. What did one name a cat really? "How about Marv?" He finally asked. Not sure where the name came from, but it just seemed right. The cat seemed to consider it. When no hissing or growling came, Harry nodded. "Good, then Marv it is. You hungry? You don´t exactly look like you have been starving and living on your own, but perhaps you are a good hunter?"

The cat, Marv, blinked slowly, looking pleased. Harry stood and walked over to the fridge. What did he have that would be suitable for a cat to eat? He had some left over meat from the night before. Glancing back at the cat, he sliced up some of it and placed it on a plate that he put on the floor.

"Come on then," he smiled at the cat. Marv walked to the edge of the table before jumping down. It went over to the plate and looked at the meat before he seemed to deem it eatable and started eating. Harry watched him eat for a moment before turning and clearing the table.

"Kreacher," he called and waited for the elf to appear.

"What can Kreacher do for Master?" The creature bowed before noticing the cat. "Master has gotten a cat?"

Harry smiled. "Yes, his name is Marv, he is a stray and he will be staying here, can you add cat food to the shopping list, please?"

"Kreacher will be doing that," Kreacher said, still looking at the cat, which turned and glared. The elf jumped at the sight of the red eyes.

"It´s just a spell or glamour or something," Harry said to reassure the steady panicking elf.

"Yes, master. Of course, master. Will master be dinning at home tonight?" The elf managed to tear his eyes from the cat to look at his master again. Marv returned to eating his meat.

"Yes, I guess it would be wise to keep an eye Marv here the first day." A knock on the window announced the arrival of the morning post and Harry went to let the owl in. He ruffled through the letters and gave the owl a treat.

"I´ll be in my office, Kreacher. Dumbledore said the collar prevents Marv from leaving the property, but until we actually test it don´t let him out. I don´t want him to get lost again."

He went upstairs to his office and settled down with the newspaper. Voldemort had been suspiciously quiet during the summer. He had skipped the annual let try and kill Harry plot as well. No raids, no attacks, not sightings. It was like the dark side had decided upon a summer vacation. It was pleasant, but still worrisome.

There was nothing new in the papers this time either. He sighed and put it aside. Time to get on with the paperwork then. War or no war, he still had two estates to run. The Potter and the Black estate.

Midways through his letter to Gringotts about his investments he saw the door, which was slightly ajar, open further and the sound of claws on the wooden floor could be heard. Marv, Harry thought looking up to see the cat coming sauntering in like he owned the room. It sat down in the middle of the room and looked around, red eyes blinking slowly as he took in his surroundings.

"Out exploring?" Harry asked with a smile before returning to his paperwork. He looked up again as a shadow fell over the papers and saw Marv on top of the desk. Harry stood and went to pick up the cat.

"Marv, you´re not allowed on my desk." He carefully picked up the cat and put him on the floor, and the cat immediately jumped back up. He seemed interested in the newspaper and was turning so that he was looking at it from the right angel. Strange, Harry thought. It was as if Marv was trying to read the paper. The cat seemed to glance over the first page before using his claws to try and push the page over.

"Marv," Harry chided and picked the cat back up and placed him back on the floor. The cat turned and scratched at him while hissing.

"Ow!" Harry jumped back, landing on his backside, clutching his hand and looking at the four small stripes of blood on top of his hand. The cat sat down on the floor and washed his paw without a care in the world that his owner was bleeding.

"Bloody menace," Harry muttered before healing the wound with his wand. The moment he pulled out his wand the cat stopped licking his pawn and stared.

"Oh, no," Harry said pointing the wand at Marv. "This is not for playing." The cat came closer, eyes still fixated on the wand. "Marv," he warned, but the cat simply stopped short of the wand and den carefully reached out a paw to touch it. Harry relaxed when it became apparent that the cat wasn´t going to attack his wand. The cat withdrew it´s paw, looking thoughtful for a cat, before moving his eyes to Harry´s.

"Okay, then," Harry said, putting the wand back in his holster. He stood and pointed towards one of the armchairs in front of his desk. "Why don´t you sleep on this while I work?"

Marv jumped onto the armchair.

"Why are you so interested in the paper, boy?" Harry asked as he sat back down, pulling the paper over to him. "Looking for a missing add about yourself? Sorry to disappoint, but there is nothing exciting in here, just the regular stuff. Nothing about Voldemort either."

The name seemed to get the cat´s attention. Perhaps a witch or wizard had owned him? If one was to speculate on the basis of the colour of the cats eyes, it might even have been a dark one.

"You seemed to know that name, Marv?" Harry frowned. The cat just stared back. "Well, he is an insane, homicidal maniac with a God complex." The cat just continued to stare. "And unfortunately I have been selected to be the one to defeat him. A war I don´t want anything to do with, which I am now the centrepiece of. He also killed my parents, and his completely mental follower killed my Godfather. This is his house." Harry made a gesture to the room they were in. "And I´m apparently going insane, seeing as I´m talking to a cat." Harry laughed. Marv started washing his tail and Harry returned to his letter.

Now and then he looked up and watched as Marv preened before he curled up into a ball and fell asleep. Strange cat, he thought. It seemed a little too human, but he knew pets that were bred by wizards and witches tended to be more intelligent and humanlike than their muggle bred counterparts.