A Piece Of Sky
As I always write at the start, I'm a member of the Snarry CZ/SK group, where the brilliant FemmeFragile came up with the Snapíšek gift exchange. This story was written as a contribution to it. One of the favourite kinks was Animagi. I admit I devour stories about Harry in cat form myself. But this story won't be about that. Harry as a cat is far too Gryffindor. Anyone who has a naughty tomcat at home probably already has an idea where I'm going with this... I've attached a photo of my naughty little furball, named Severus Jimmy... Sorry for any mistakes, this story hasn't been edited. If anyone would be interested in editing it, I'd be grateful. Enjoy the read!
I declare that the whole world of Harry Potter is the sole property of J.K. Rowling and that this story was not written for profit.
Severus was strolling along the ledge of a Muggle house. Nobody paid him the slightest attention, so he settled on the corner and looked down at the passers by. He liked doing that. Nobody threatened him and nobody stared at him. He contentedly raised a paw and began licking it, oblivious to his surroundings, which this time came back to bite him. He didn't notice a young lout creep up to the house, pick up a heavy stone and throw it at him. As a nimble cat he would have had a chance to escape, but because of what he was doing, and because he wasn't a cat but an Animagus, the situation caught him unprepared. The stone hit him and he fell off the ledge. He landed on all four paws, but he was hurt. He mewed pitifully to relieve himself at least a little and tried to limp away. The boy ran after him, and the desperate Severus was sure that in this state he couldn't transform back. He zigzagged trying to escape, when he ran into someone's leg. He stopped in surprise, fell onto his backside and looked up. 'Hermione Granger,' he mewed. He would recognise that Know It All anywhere. Normally he wouldn't have been pleased, but now he was very glad to see her! She bent down to him and cooed, "Poor thing, who did this to you!" She looked around and narrowed her eyes when she noticed the lout. Severus mewed and stared boldly in that direction. "Don't worry. I'll protect you!" She stepped forward, but the lout took off running.
Hermione took a good look at the tomcat lounging in her arms. He was a beautiful fluffy specimen of a domestic cat with deep orange eyes. She had never seen a cat like that. When she wanted to relieve herself of his weight and shifted him to her other arm, she found blood on her hand. Frightened, she started examining the cat. He had a torn wound behind his ear, and after feeling his paws she concluded that probably nothing was broken. The cat squirmed in her arms, wanting to get down. But Hermione paid no attention. She took him home with her, treated him and put him on the table. She sat down on a chair and stared into the cat's eyes. "What am I going to do with you? I can't keep you!" Severus tore his eyes away and yawned widely to show her how much he cared. Hermione burst out laughing and suddenly banged on the table so hard that Severus jumped. "You'll make a great Christmas present!" She grew sad. "Harry is alone and needs company." She sighed. "He refuses to see us, kitty. I'm worried about him, but you'll take care of him for me, won't you?" She scratched him behind the ears. Severus realised in horror that he couldn't pull away. It felt so good that he started to purr, got up and walked under her hand all the way to his tail. At the base of his tail she started scratching a bit harder, and Severus could have gone mad. He stuck his backside up as far as it would go and purred like crazy. Only Hermione's laughter brought him back, as she grabbed him and squeezed him against herself. Severus spat, protesting against such treatment, and ran away. He hid under the counter and watched from there what that mad girl was up to.
Hermione watched him go and wondered whether her idea of a Christmas present was a good one. The way the cat looked at her reminded her of Professor Snape. She laughed at the thought and kept pondering. In the morning she finally decided. Harry needed this cat. Urgently. She smirked and went to fetch Crookshanks's old collar. It was red, with a red bow and a bell. During the night the cat had crept onto the sofa with her and fallen asleep on a furry cushion, sucking contentedly on the fur he had in his mouth. He didn't even look up when she got up. But when she came back and put the collar on him, still half asleep, he spat at her and, trying to get the collar off, rolled across the sofa until he fell onto the floor. That didn't do his bruised paws much good, so instead of spitting he wailed. Hermione bent down and picked him up in her arms. "You poor thing! Let's go. I've got a wonderful master for you! And Christmas is in two weeks, so it doesn't matter if he gets you early." She shut the cat, who was staring at her in disbelief, into a small carrier and put on her coat.
At first Severus sat in the wicker carrier spitting, hoping that silly girl would come to her senses. He was looking forward to turning back, because then at least he could make her pay properly. When he toppled onto his side several times because the carrier was swinging, he decided to lie down instead. He had no idea how long they would be walking, because he had absolutely no clue where Potter lived. Since the war he had stopped caring about anyone. He laid his head on his front paws and closed his eyes for a moment. But only for a tiny little moment, he couldn't afford to lose control. So every few metres he opened his eyes just enough to see a little of the world around him and closed them again. In the end the steady motion of the carrier rocked him to sleep.
He only woke when the carrier was set down on the ground in front of some door. He watched the silly girl lean over, knock loudly and run away. 'She ran away?' Severus mewed to himself in surprise. 'Is there some kind of monster in there or what?' He mewed in her direction again, when footsteps from inside reached his sensitive ears. He turned his head, heard someone breathing heavily and apparently looking through the peephole. He flattened his ears, looked around and then turned his head back. He pricked up his ears and gave a tentative mew to draw attention to himself. 'What if the silly girl doesn't show up, eh…' The heavy door finally opened, and Severus fixed his eyes on the young man standing in the doorway. They stared at each other for a good while before the boy finally bent down, pulled the tag off the carrier and read the Christmas wish. He looked at the cat again and then at the paper. His eyes were empty. It almost frightened Severus. Harry Potter then bent down to the carrier and took it into the house. Severus didn't feel good at all. He recognised the house, it was 12 Grimmauld Place. He shook himself when his carrier landed on the floor not very gently. He looked at Potter reproachfully and spat. But Potter didn't react and walked off towards the kitchen. At least that's what Severus thought, it had been a while since he was last in the house. He settled down and waited.
'Is he going to leave me here to starve and die of thirst?' Severus lay on the bottom of the carrier with his head resting on his front paws. His eyes kept searching for any movement towards him, but for a good few hours there had been none. Severus was starting to get very angry. Pissed off, to be precise. He had never thought Potter would let a poor animal suffer like this. His tongue was sticking to the roof of his mouth and his stomach rumbled. 'What if I were a rabbit, damn it?! I'd probably be dead by now, they need a constant supply of food.' He sighed and sat up. He cleaned a paw and then made up his mind. He started throwing himself around in the narrow carrier, mewing and hissing and, last but not least, positively howling. He knew very well it echoed through the house. He only stopped when he heard footsteps.
"Damn it, you stupid cat! I didn't ask for you!" blurted out a completely drunk Potter. Severus stared at him through the bars of the little door and then pawed at the latch. Potter tried to open the latch, but he was extremely clumsy. When he banged it with his fist in anger, it opened and Severus shot out. "Damn it, stop! Where are you running off to, you idiot?" He heard Harry trying to stumble after him. He narrowed his eyes and headed for the living room. There he sat down on the sofa and waited for Potter to crawl in.
Harry would have sworn that damned cat was staring at him slyly from that sofa! He saw its eyes glint and then noticed the cat stand in a strange way and, "Merlin, you little bitch!" it pissed on the sofa. Before he could reach it, the cat ran away. Harry limped over to the sofa and stared at the mess. "Fuck..." he muttered and went to look for where the cat had gone. He went through the whole house, finding various kinds of havoc, like a pissed on bed and scratched wallpaper in the corridor. But the cat was nowhere to be found. 'Maybe it ran away...' he sighed, he didn't care. When the excitement had died down, he decided to go back to the kitchen. He carefully went down the moving stairs and when he finally walked into the room, his eyes went wide. "Bloody hell!" All the bottles of alcohol were on the floor. Smashed, or just spilled, and in the middle of it all sat that black disaster. "You little sod..." Harry slumped onto a chair with his head in his hands.
Severus was pleased with himself. He sat in the wreckage and watched Potter. He was surprised at what had become of him. Potter had been so promising and brave, after all. He thought about the words of that silly girl, who had said Harry needed him. 'Wrong,' he growled. 'He needs a companion who won't let him drink and will make him think.' He sulked a little longer, but then he hesitantly walked over to Harry. He put a paw on his thigh and looked at him. When the young man didn't react, he extended his claws and reminded him of his presence a little. He only just managed to jump away when Potter raised his head and swung his hand down.
"Do you know what you've done?" he growled. He looked at the cat with a hateful stare. Severus flattened his ears and looked at him in disbelief. Harry, now more sober, tried to hold it together, but he couldn't. He had to start laughing. Severus kept looking at him, but he had brought his ears forward and narrowed his eyes. "With that look you remind me of Professor Snape." When the cat didn't react, Harry reached for it and caught it. Severus had the urge to fight, but he reminded himself that if Harry was going to get him out of this, he would have to behave. "So let's see what we have here..." He turned Severus upside down and then blurted out, "A tomcat!" You could tell from his uncoordinated movements that Potter was still quite drunk. Severus was afraid he would end up on the floor, but Harry gently pulled him back and cooed at him. "You're the same little bastard as that professor, so welcome, Severus! My pet..." Harry giggled, and Severus just looked at him and bristled. Potter then let him down onto the floor and apparently went to lie down. It didn't even occur to him that Severus might be hungry. So Severus decided to help himself. He jumped onto the counter, searched it, and when he smelled roast meat, he headed unerringly for the roasting tin covered with a tea towel. After he had stuffed himself, he followed Potter's trail to the bedroom. He certainly wasn't going to sleep alone. He liked warmth, and he would surely get that from the drunk young man.
In the morning Harry woke up late. As he did every day, after all. He wondered how he had got into bed and tried to remember what had happened. Then he realised something far more interesting. It was the first night he had slept well! He turned onto his side and yelped when claws sank into him. He turned a little and stared into the eyes of a clearly grumpy black ball of fur. "Eh? A cat?" As if in answer, the cat hissed at him. Suddenly he remembered. "Yeah, the cat. My cat. Dude, what am I going to do? He pissed on my sofa yesterday!" Harry scrambled out of bed and ran to make sure he hadn't dreamed it. Severus watched him go and then curled up contentedly in the spot where Harry had been lying. 'He smells lovely, the boy. And that warmth for my bones….' he purred under his breath. When Potter appeared in the doorway again, Severus only lazily raised his head and looked at the furious young man.
"Right, let's settle this, Sev!" he growled at the cat. "In one night you destroyed everything you could get to! You destroyed my alcohol too, the only thing that helps with my depression! I'll have to go shopping! And you ate the MEAT from Molly too! Dude, what do you think you're doing?" he raged. Severus lazily flicked his tail and sent him one simple thought. 'You left me locked in a carrier. You don't have a litter box here and you didn't bother to feed me… What do you think you're doing?' And it seemed to work, because Potter started to go red and then hung his head. "It's my fault, isn't it?" Severus slowly closed his eyes, as if to tell him he was right, and then lazily got up. He went over to him and rubbed against his leg. "Let's go and buy you some things."
When Harry went shopping, Severus tried to transform back. Unfortunately it didn't work. In his rage he shredded the already ruined and pissed on sofa, and when the rage had passed, he thought with satisfaction that Potter would have had to get a new sofa anyway. He had only made the decision easier for him.
At the magical pet shop Harry bought everything the shop assistant advised and was curious what Severus would say to it. He chuckled. Severus. He held a grudge against Professor Snape for hiding and not facing the world. He had nothing to be ashamed of, and he ran away anyway. Harry felt abandoned. Everyone who had had anything to do with his parents was dead. Only Severus Snape wasn't, and he didn't value it. The moment he reminded himself again why he drank so much, his old friend thirst spoke up. So he stopped at the nearest shop and bought three litres of wine. He would have to buy more as soon as possible, because he was planning to drink this lot that very evening…
When he got home, he found bits of some kind of foam everywhere. He put the shopping down on the floor resignedly and took the bottles to the kitchen. His stomach growled, but he didn't fancy nibbling Severus's leftovers either. He went back to the hall, unpacked the litter box, took the bowls to the kitchen and went to look for the cat. He found him in the living room, lying on the windowsill staring out of the window. He wasn't moving, only flicking his tail, as if something was annoying him immensely. Harry ran his eyes over the ruined sofa, which now had springs sticking out of it too, and his shoulders slumped. He turned and went straight for the wine.
Severus had known about him the whole time. He waited for his reaction, and when he saw him leave, he decided to follow him. When he reached the kitchen, he was met with the sight of the young man standing at the counter, tipping a bottle of red down his throat. Severus screeched and jumped at Harry, who dropped the bottle in shock. He frowned and looked at the cat. "Are you doing this on purpose? Do you want the memories to get me? Do you want me to suffer?" He felt like kicking the cat, but instead he slid down to the floor along the counter and covered his eyes, crying. Severus didn't wait and went over to him. He started to purr and half lay down on him. He closed his eyes and waited.
After a while he felt Harry bury his hands in his fur and stroke him. Severus purred and pressed his head harder against the hand. Then he heard Harry's voice. "You know, I've always been alone in some way. That's not it. But I can't bear the feeling that I killed them. First Sirius, who was trying to protect me. If I hadn't been such a prick, it would never have happened. And this is the house he left me, on top of that. Then the Battle of Hogwarts. You know, I watched Professor Snape slowly dying. And then I found Lupin, Tonks and the others..." Severus raised his eyes and watched Harry wipe his tear stained face. "I'm so fucking alone and it's my fault! If I had done something sooner, maybe given myself up to him..." He shook his head, and Severus wrapped his tail around his hand. He looked at him and tried to tell him that he wasn't alone. For the first time he regretted that he couldn't hug Harry as a human. The young man clearly needed it. "I can't look Ron or Hermione in the face. I feel so damn bad for everything they had to go through, just because they're my friends…" Severus sat there, keeping him warm and listening as best a cat can.
The light woke Harry. He growled, because he had apparently forgotten to draw the curtains. Then it dawned on him that he was still lying on the floor. He grumbled and stretched, and felt a little ball beside him. "Sev, get up!" The cat whined and opened his orange eyes. He looked at Harry intently and then looked at his bowls. The next mew sounded reproachful. But Harry smiled, he felt better. Better than he had in a long time. He got up and apologised. "Sorry! I'm so sorry!" He poured him some kibble and fresh water while he babbled on. Severus walked over to the bowls and looked up at Harry. 'Back to the old ways. Talking nonsense.' He sighed and buried his nose in the cool water. 'So refreshing...' he thought, half closing his eyes. He didn't know Harry was watching him. Harry bent down for the remaining two bottles and poured them into the sink. In that moment Severus looked at him with satisfaction, which made Harry laugh. He pointed a finger at him. "You'll be here when it gets me! Is that clear?!" Severus wrapped his tail around himself and mewed in agreement.
A week later, Harry sleeping with Severus had become a completely normal thing. Together they chose a new sofa and a scratching post for Severus. Severus took a liking to sleeping at the very top of that scratching post. However, as soon as Harry gave the command, he moved to the bedroom. Severus was snoozing contentedly like this when a loud bang and Harry's swearing disturbed him. He stretched, yawned and went to see what the silly boy was up to now. To his horror he found him pulling out boxes full of Christmas decorations. Severus hated Christmas, and in cat form he had managed to completely forget it existed. He watched Harry bustle about and the old, dark house change before his eyes. "You could help too!" Harry laughed when he caught Severus rolling one of the Christmas baubles around. Severus froze in horror and ran away. 'No! Not Christmas!' He tried to doze off on his scratching post tower, but he still had to keep glancing at Harry out of the corner of his eye.
When Christmas Eve came, Severus sat contentedly on the back of the sofa looking at the tree, which Harry was about to light up any minute. Christmas carols filled the room and Severus swished his tail to their rhythm. He had waited a long week for this moment. He had managed to break a dozen Christmas baubles, cut himself, singe his whiskers on a candle and ruin Harry's Christmas biscuits. But nothing could rattle that boy. Now, though, Harry was somehow downcast, and it escaped Severus what had happened. On the one hand he longed to devote himself to the tree, as his cat side was telling him, and on the other hand he wanted to know why Harry was so depressed. So he jumped down from the back of the sofa and went over to Harry's armchair. When he stretched out in his lap, Harry started talking on his own. "There's something I didn't tell you. I thought we'd have a guest. I sent him a letter at his address, but it came back to me unopened. He didn't even bother to read it. Damn it!" Severus pricked up his ears and frowned. He felt a stab of jealousy. "Damned Snape!" The cat's eyes widened, but before he could react in any way, Harry went on. "I fell in love with him. Imagine that, I gave him my stupid Gryffindor heart!" He took a breath and hit the armrest. "I'd rather go and shoot myself!" Severus looked at him curiously, and then his eyes glinted. While Harry was looking into the fire, Severus couldn't hold back and transformed right there in his lap. And so it happened that they were looking each other in the face from very close up. Harry blinked, unable to understand, and Severus smiled, put his arms around his neck and pressed his lips to his. "So, you stupid Gryffindor… Go and light that tree for me! You've already got your present!" Severus purred against his lips in a deep voice. Harry had his eyes closed, still dazed from the kiss. But at his words he opened his eyes and breathed, "How?" Severus put a finger on his lips and shook his head. "Too complicated, we can talk about it another time..." He kissed Harry again and got up to sit on the sofa. Harry walked dazedly to the tree and looked at the sofa as he pressed the switch. At the same moment Severus turned back into a cat and, to Harry's loud shout of "Severus!", threw himself into that glittering and wonderfully fragrant splendour, just to explore the tree properly and play with the glittering baubles. His eyes widened in shock when he realised the tree wasn't going to hold, and it came crashing down to the floor along with the dear tomcat.
THE END
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Mimosa Confiante
By day, I work somewhere between marketing, copy and campaigns; by night, I usually end up somewhere between fanfiction, cosplay and yet another “what if” that refuses to leave me alone. I write mainly in the Harry Potter and Mo Dao Zu Shi fandoms, most often Snarry, Snamione, HarryLu and WangXian. My healthcare background means that anatomy, medicine and far too much research occasionally find their way into my stories. Cosplay is another way for me to play with the characters I love, whether I stay close to canon or turn them into my own fanfiction and AU versions. In Diary of a Slytherin Girl with ADHD, I write openly about life with a brain that usually has far too many tabs open at once.
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