(HP) AS THE CATBOY PURRS

Chapter 1

Part 1 - Meow

Harry wandered the halls with no particular destination in mind. He heard footsteps and glanced up to see Malfoy approaching. Harry sighed and debated ducking into a random classroom, but decided it would only make things that much worse the next time he encountered the blond. He plodded resolutely forward. However, as he got closer to the Slytherin he noticed something... odd.

They stopped three feet apart and before he could stop himself Harry blurted, "What have you been up to?"

Draco sniffed, sneered and then replied in a pompous drawl, "I have been working on my animagus form, Potter."

Instead of looking impressed, as he was sure the Slytherin wanted him to, Harry grinned. "Let me guess, a cat of some sort?"

Draco gaped at him and sputtered, "How... how did you know?"

"You still have.. um..." Harry pointed at his head, trying to suppress a laugh.

Malfoy immediately dug his hands into the platinum locks and then froze as his fingers encountered two furry cat ears sticking up on either side of his head. His look of utter shock was priceless.

"They're a very pretty grey, I must admit." Harry said, crossing his arms and staring at the new appendages in mock appraisal. "Tell me, do you also have a tail?" He tried to peer around the shellshocked boy.

At that Draco's eyes went wide and he quickly reached around behind his back. His startled squeak a moment later answered Harry's question.

"You.. ah.. you might want to go see Madame Pomfrey about that," the Gryffindor informed him carefully, torn between the urge to fall on the floor laughing at Malfoy's predicament and wanting to pull him close and comfort the obviously distressed Slytherin. And where the hell had that urge come from?

Draco nodded absently and then took off toward the Hospital Wing at a run. He was almost to the end of the corridor when Harry called out to him.

"Hey, Malfoy."

Surprisingly, Draco stopped and turned, his face quizzical but not annoyed.

"For the record, you make a pretty hot catboy."

Draco blushed to the tips of his adorable grey ears and then disappeared from sight. His rapid footfalls echoed for several minutes.

Harry grinned to himself and began to whistle as he continued on his way.

Part 2 - Here, Kitty, Kitty

Draco spent the next week perpetually tense, waiting for the backlash from Potter finding out about his little Animagus mishap. Each day he would wake up wondering how it would happen. Would the Weasel start calling him CatFerret or FerretCat? Would Granger give him pitying looks and try to slip him pamphlets called things like Achieving Your Animagus Form With Poise and Dignity? Would the entire Gryffindor table meow and hiss at him when he walked by?

But each night he went to bed, as yet unscathed. He could never decide if he was relieved or terrified by this fact.

One week rolled into two and he was beginning to relax, thinking that perhaps he had dodged a hex due to Gryffindor nobility. And then Potter snagged him in the hall after Potions. Most of the Slytherins were already halfway to their dorm so he had no one to call out to as he was dragged unceremoniously into a hidden alcove.

Harry had spent the last week observing Draco Malfoy with an intensity that would have concerned Ron and Hermione, if they'd caught on to what he was up to. As it was, he managed to elude the suspicions of his best friends while he watched Malfoy's every move.