Kitten Troubles

Chapter 2

Harry walked off at a fast pace and managed to locate his study fairly quickly. He had many plans that needed to be perfected before he went back to school and he wasn't too sure he could get them done in time. The sooner he started, the better off he'd be. He only had a few more hours before he'd be missed.

Maps and many different colored inks littered his desk and many other tables that he had conjured just for all the extra maps and parchments and letters that he had been receiving from his spies. Much better than either Dumbledore's or Voldemort's spies, too. No one suspected his spies, but conspiracies and suspicions were high with the other two. He laughed quietly and took his reading glasses off when he heard the clock chime one.

He needed to get back and he needed to do it soon if he wanted to get there before they'd notice his absence.

As he was reviewing his work, he felt an owl fly through the window. He looked and knew that Earl was here to tell him that the battle was done and both sides were looking for their dead and missing. He nodded and the owl flew back out as he left to find the kitten that had started meowing.

He was stuck on a stair. It would figure that the creature would try to climb the one set of stairs that he had charmed to let only himself climb. He didn't need anyone up in his private section of the castle, and he hadn't remembered to tell the cat not to climb any stairs. He shook his head and went to get the feline before apparating to the Forbidden Forest.

The cat wasn't phased in the slightest, leading him to believe that he'd done it before. He shook the thought off, put his glasses on, and threw the Invisibility cloak over the two of them before making sure his glamours were in place. The cat was in his pocket again and he told it to be quiet before entering the castle.

He made it up to the third floor where he glamoured the two of them to look like they'd just walked away from the fiercest thing they'd ever been through.

"Act stunned," was the only warning he gave to the feline before taking the cloak off and spelling it to his trunk. He stumbled off towards the stairs, being sure to look like he was injured and trying to hide it.

"Harry!" He saw the bushy-haired girl running to him, her head bleeding profusely, and a redhead following her closely.

"Ron, Hermione needs to go to Pomfrey. She's bleeding." At the mention of Hermione needing medical attention, he quickly took her and redirected her momentum down the stairs and to the Great Hall. He pulled the cat out of his pocket and stumbled down two more flights of stairs before seeing one Severus Snape. The Potions Master quickly glanced around the corridor and pulled him into an unused room that looked as if it was about to collapse.

"My Lord Viper." He bowed. "How can I be of assistance?" The cat hissed and reached out with a clawed paw, intent on doing some damage. Harry put him back in his pocket, glad that it was too small to climb back out.

"I never left. I was upstairs and was knocked unconscious. Right now you're giving me a few potions to return me to full health and will request that I be taken to your house-slightly unwillingly, of course-for better protection. Hiding in the most obviously hidden place to look." Severus nodded and Harry smiled.

"I can always count on you Severus." He got a smile from the older man and they left the room together, Severus carrying him. He closed his eyes and evened out his breathing so it looked as if he was asleep.

The next two hours were spent in some form of closed-off room serving as the headquarters for Dumbledore and the Order. He listened intently to Severus arguing with the others about where Harry should stay and then he heard the potentially fatal silence that signaled his deep thinking, philosophical mode. He was totally fine until the entire room burst into protest at Severus's suggestion that he come with him to Spinner's End. He had trouble not laughing.