Harry Potter and The Vanished Slytherin Prince

Chapter 1

Harry stumbles out of the club, the cool night air stinging his hot cheeks.

He's not drunk, but he's off kilter having just rushed through the dance floor in pursuit of a flash of white-blond hair. The pounding music still thumps in his chest from the entrance, and he looks around for the object of his pursuit.

This is also why he notices a man lift off his place leaning against a wall down the street, glancing around a bit, but not noticing Harry watching as Harry has a notice-me-not cast on himself.

He walks quietly down the street into an alley, and a flash of metal catches Harry's attention. He runs after, cancelling the spell keeping him hidden.

But when he turns into the alley himself, he's shocked to find the man blinking dumbly at a cat sitting on the top of a fence at the end of the alley.

Harry takes the knife from his hand, Vanishing it just before the man turns to face him.

"Excuse me sir, are you attempting to mug that cat?" Harry asks blandly.

"Erm, no." The man frowns, looking back to the end of the alley in confusion.

Harry rolls his eyes, shoving the man against the wall as he's preoccupied and patting down his pockets. Sure enough, a variety of mobiles, wallets and various jewelry are hidden in his coat.

"Alright, you're coming with me." Harry says, pulling his magical handcuffs out of a pocket.

"You a cop?" The man asks suddenly.

"Close enough." Harry shrugs.

He honestly just never took the cuffs out of this jacket after he'd quit his auror position. He'd sort of forgotten they were in there to begin with, as the pockets are magically expanded.

Harry brings the would-be mugger down to the nearest station, removing the magical cuffs before anyone sees them and giving the man a rough shove inside.

"This man tried to mug me. You'll find his pockets are full of stolen items." Harry tells them.

"Oh." The on duty officer says. Harry rolls his eyes.

"I'm leaving."

"Sir, we'll need a statement-"

"Fine." Harry scribbles down his name as well as a brief description of where and when he'd encountered the man. He left out the fact that the man seemed to be mugging a cat.

"Are you a veteran?" The officer asked, handcuffing the man with regular muggle cuffs. "Usually people don't haul their muggers downtown to turn them in."

"Sort of. And I was in law enforcement after. Have a good night." Harry says, sliding the page across the desk to the man.

He doesn't pay attention to what the man says after that.

He's still bewildered by what had led him out of the club to begin with.

The flash of pale hair leaving replayed in his mind, and he found himself back to the alley where the mugger had gone.

Strangely, the cat was still there, sitting on the fence, blinking at him curiously.

It had probably been half an hour since Harry had left, so it's not shocking that the cat hadn't gone, but it was odd.

The cat was delicate, slim and sleek, with white fur and large grey eyes.

"You look familiar." Harry frowns, stepping closer. The cat kept staring at him, and Harry moved so slowly that he was nearly standing still.