Disclaimer: I don't own the HP universe, or the kitty Harry idea. Kudos to whoever did think of that. Welcome to my new story! I love Cat!Harry stories, and I think a Fred/Harry/George sandwich is delicious, so I shoved the two of them together in one probably clumsy story. So, my first WIP. Be prepared for procrastination, although I don't think that'll happen too much with this, because I love the idea. If it's not going to be updated in a while, I'll tell you, and there will be a good reason, I assure you. Warnings: Evil Ginny ( Alive Sirius! This is set in the summer before Harry's fifth year because that's when Fred and George are still at school. Sirius will probably be in this quite a bit, because I love him. He most likely won't die by my hand. However, no main stories will revolve around him. Also, I will be using some of the OOTP plot, but not all of it. Anyway, enjoy!
Ginny Weasley, locked away in her room that she shared with Hermione at Grimmauld Place, smirked to herself.
In front of her sat a large cauldron that was heated by a Muggle Bunsen Burner that had been magically altered by her mother so she could practice her potions over the holidays. Molly was very proud of her potions skills, but would have never expected Ginny to use those skills for something quite so... Slytherin.
Ginny quickly chucked in a pinch of garlic and adjusted the Bunsen Burner to a lower heat, before stirring four times.
When she'd heard that Harry was coming over the very next day, she had immediately rushed to her room. She'd been anticipating another week in which to perfect the potion before having to make the final piece. She really couldn't afford mistakes. However, she was confident in her skills and the potion only took five hours, three of those spent simmering.
Ginny was soon down to the last ten minutes, and felt herself relax when she saw that the potion was the pink colour the book had designated. Now, all that was left was to add the Veela hair. She picked up a little glass jar next to her that contained three strands of hair. She opened it and put two into the potion, stirring five times clockwise, then five times counter clockwise.
She didn't notice that the hairs that were supposed to be an almost glowing silver blond had been a dark grey.
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"Harry!" Molly exclaimed as Harry was herded into the kitchen. She moved over to him, enveloping him in a hug. "Look at you, fifteen now! All grown up!" Tears formed in her eyes. "So grown up."
Harry smiled, feeling rather awkward. He wasn't that grown up, only 5ft'5. However, he wished that Mrs Weasley had stayed on the topic of his age when her face transformed into an angry scowl. He anticipated her annual question regarding his health.
"And so thin! What have those Dursleys been feeding you?" As always, he decided not to answer that.
However, Mrs Weasley didn't notice, already thinking of all the food she could force on Harry. Harry was lead to the table and pushed to sit in a seat. He shifted uncomfortably under the thoughtful stares of the older members of the household, who did notice he looked a little thinner than usual.
"Harry mate, glad you're here! It's been so boring without you," Ron greeted, clapping him on the back. Harry grinned at him, ignoring the uncomfortable stares he knew were being directed at him.
Hermione huffed indignantly. "Ronald Weasley, are you calling me boring?" she snapped. Ron winced.
"No, no! That's not what I meant, you're not boring, you're well interesting," he said before colouring to the tips of his hair at what he'd just implied. Harry laughed as Hermione took that comment for sarcasm, and Ron muttered about her nagging, angering her even more.
"Those two never change, do they?" Sirius asked Harry, who jumped, unaware his godfather had sat down. He grinned.
"Every day, it's the same thing. 'Ronald Weasley!'" Harry mimicked in a high-pitched voice, before making it go gruffer. "'Bloody woman, always getting on my case'. 'What's that supposed to mea..." Harry trailed off at the furious looks from Ron and Hermione, while Sirius laughed uproariously beside him.
"You've got them down to a tee, Harry," Ginny suddenly said, appearing beside Harry, a plate in her hand. It was piled with shepherds' pie and vegetables. "This is from mum, I'm under strict orders to see you eat every bit of it."
Harry shook his head, taking the plate from her and setting it down. Ginny grinned and took the seat across from him."So, how was your summer?" she asked. Sirius, Ron, Hermione and Remus, who was sitting near them, reading a book, suddenly seemed very interested.
"Um... it was pretty boring. I stayed in my room, mainly. How was yours?" Harry asked. They hadn't corresponded much, but Remus had explained to him on the way there that it was for Harry and the Order's safety. Harry still wasn't sure what, exactly, the 'Order' was, but hearing that the lack of writing was to protect people, including Hermione and Ron, had tamed his infamous temper somewhat, although he still felt bitter.
"Dead boring, we've been locked up here since the start of summer; Dumbledore's worried we might get targeted. Blood traitors and all that, as Malfoy likes to put it," Ron told him, sending him an apologetic look. "I really wanted to write to you, but we weren't allowed."
"You've got crafty friends, Harry," Sirius interjected, nodding at Ron and Hermione, who suddenly seemed rather embarrassed. "They tried to sneak an owl out. They would have succeeded too, if the bird hadn't smelled the bacon Molly was cooking and flown into the kitchen."
Harry laughed at that, heart lightened at the knowledge that Hermione and Ron had at least tried. Ron read the thankful look in his eyes, grinning at him.
Under the watchful eye of Sirius and the intent eye of Ginny, Harry managed to eat half his meal (some of it fed to Crookshanks, who was prowling under the table and had an iron stomach), before he felt too full to go on and pushed his plate away. Mrs Weasley came in and fixed him with a stern look, but didn't push it. She had put an awful lot on his plate.
They stayed in the kitchen for a while longer, talking about the new school year and what the Golden Trio hoped for their OWLS, avoiding the darker subject of Voldemort, although Harry desperately tried several times to steer the conversation that way. He'd been cut off from the Wizarding world since leaving Hogwarts and needed information.
However, he did find out that the Order was an organisation of members whose aim was the defeat Voldemort and help the Wizarding world. It had been around in the first reign of Voldemort, and his parents had even been in it. When asked if he could join, Sirius told him, gently as he could, that there was an age limit.
More people started arriving, getting back from their jobs. Arthur stepped through the floo, brushing off soot from his clothes.
"Ah, hello Harry," he greeted, ruffling Harry's hair as he walked by to give his wife a kiss. Ron pulled a face at his mum and dad, and Hermione hit his arm lightly.
"Still no news of anything?" Sirius asked, and the atmosphere grew tense. Arthur sat down, sighing heavily. Harry could see that he had more lines on his face than the last time he had seen him, and the bags under his eyes were more prominent. This was true of Mrs Weasley, too.
"Nothing. It's like Voldemort hasn't risen, which I suppose is part of the reason for the Ministry's unwillingness to believe that Voldemort is, indeed, back." Sirius growled under his breath, and Harry perked up. He hadn't realise the Ministry weren't acknowledging Voldemort's return.
Sirius saw Harry's expression. "Fudge doesn't want to know. He won't listen to Albus. Thinks he doesn't need his opinion now. Albus was kicked off the Wizengamot too, although I think he got a few people to listen. We think the Ministry doesn't want to disturb the 'peace' we've lived in for all these years."
"They're fools. That peace won't be around much longer if we don't prepare," Arthur interjected, and Harry noticed that his usually calm countenance had slipped slightly, his eyes afire. "But Fudge has an election coming up. Can't have something like a war happening."
Harry had never understood politics, and never would. Fudge was an idiot. But of course, they all knew this.
"So, I hear you've got a hearing coming up," Arthur said, changing the topic, voice stern. Harry rubbed the back of his head. It wasn't his fault! Those Dementors came from nowhere!
"Lay off him, Arthur," Sirius said, patting Harry's shoulder. Arthur sighed.
"I wasn't starting on him. It's just been a bad day." Mrs Weasley immediately swooped upon Arthur, hugging him to her and asking what had happened. Remus put down his book, which he had actually stopped reading about five minutes ago, to listen in. The adults then remembered that the children were still there, and turned to stare at them pointedly.
Ron rolled his eyes and grabbed Harry's arm, clearly used to this. "C'mon Harry, we'll go to our room." He pulled Harry out of the room, Hermione and Ginny following.
They climbed a set of stairs, for some reason creeping silently passed a pair of shut black curtains. When they got up the stairs, Ron turned to him.
"That's Sirius' mum's portrait. Right old bat, she is. Can't make a sound around her," he told Harry. "She called Hermione some awful things once, and seems to have a sixth sense for Fred and George. They can't walk past her without her screaming at them."
"That's probably because they drew a moustache on her," Hermione said disapprovingly. Harry snorted with laughter and Ron grinned at the fond memory. Of course, they'd had to spell it off, because Mrs Black screeched for two days straight until they did.
Ron opened a door in the hallway they'd come to. "The door next to us is Fred and George's, and the one on the other side is Hermione and Ginny's. It gets pretty crowded here with Order members in and out, so we have to share. This is ours."
They stepped into the room and Harry instantly noticed Ron's trademark mess. One of the two beds was unmade and covered in violent orange covers. The trunk at the bottom of his bed was open, clothes strewn over the side and around it, and also across his bed. He'd stuck up a few Chudley Cannon posters on the walls, which certainly brightened the room up immensely.
Hermione tutted. "You and your mess!" she scolded, although Harry caught a hint of affection in her voice.
Harry sat down on the made bed which was obviously his, the quilt cover a faded black and the pillows a murky brown.
"Cheery, isn't it?" Harry commented, looking around at the dark green walls and thick black curtains. The window was caked with something Harry didn't want to know about, and he imagined it wouldn't shine much light during the day. The candles around the room were magically enhanced to give more light, but the shadows cast were still long, and almost threatening.
Harry checked the time on his watch as noticed how late it was. He felt exhausted.
Harry stroked his new quilt despondently. He wasn't looking forward to sleeping. There were two reasons he wasn't getting much rest. One was the horrifying dreams of Cedric's death, of that haunting voice saying 'kill the spare' so coldly, of Cedric's unseeing eyes. He would wake up sweating, chest heaving and a scream caught in his throat, although he never let out a sound, thankfully.
The other reason was the dreams he got when he didn't get these nightmares. Dreams of... well... men.
Harry was a healthy teenage boy and had had his fair of wet dreams, but there had never been a gender involved in these dreams, just overwhelming pleasure, the pleasure of being touched. But now, he didn't know what to think. His dreams horrified him. Oliver Wood, Seamus Finnegan, even Ron's twin brothers. Those were the most vivid and recurring. He was certain facing the twins would be a nightmare; the thought of the dreams made him blush furiously.
Which he was doing now. Hermione, Ron and Ginny were staring at him in concern.
"Um, what were you saying?" he asked innocently.
"Just talking about how unfair this trial is! You were only protecting yourself and your cousin, although why you'd want to protect him, I don't know," Hermione ranted. Harry chuckled, outright laughing when he saw the adoring look Ron was shooting Hermione.
They talked for a while longer, before Harry's stomach started feeling strange. He frowned, rubbing it, hoping the ache was just from how much he'd eaten.
Five minutes later and he was sweating, almost doubling over from the pain he felt in his abdomen. Ron sat next to him, rubbing his back.
"You all right?" he asked, seeing Harry's face pale even further when his stomach lurched.
"I think I'm going to go to sleep. My stomach feels terrible," he said, though it came out as a croak. Ron nodded.
"Right, we'll go to Hermione and Ginny's," Ron said, patting Harry's shoulder and standing. The three left the room, shooting concerned looks at Harry, Ginny more so than the others.
Harry stood shakily, pulling off his t-shirt and trousers, not bothering to put pyjamas on. He could barely stand, and just opted to sleep in his boxers for the night. Besides, it wasn't like Ron would exactly receive the shock of his life. They'd lived in a dorm together for four years and knew what each other looked like naked.
Harry easily drifted off to sleep that night, and experienced no nightmares.
Although Fred and George were starring in another sort of dream.
XxXxXxX
When Harry awoke the next morning, he felt fine, his stomach not on fire. He clambered out of bed, seeing Ron still asleep across the room, snoring loudly.
Harry scratched his stomach and padded over to the mirror after slipping on his glasses. He looked at his reflection, taking in how thin he'd got over the summer and vowing to wear baggy clothes (which wasn't hard, as that was all he owned, thanks to the Dursleys) until he put on a bit more weight.
His tail swished lazily behind him and he stretched, mouth flashing his sharp teeth and arms stretching up to the ceiling, claws coming out for a moment before they slipped back into his fingers, leaving his ordinary nails.
Wait...
Harry stared at himself in the full-length mirror, hands shooting out to clutch the sides of it.
"Oh, I didn't know that cat-boys actually existed," the mirror muttered to him sleepily. Harry's eyes widened.
"Oh Merlin!"
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Haha, a nice surprise for Harry. I'd love it if you review, constructive criticism is always helpful to improve my work. This chapter was beat'ed by the lovely