The Skin She's In

Hermione woke up, stretched, and looked over at the person next to her. As usual, it was Draco Malfoy. She edged her way towards him and poked him in the cheek with her cold nose. She did so again and reached up her arm and pawed at him. Draco woke up when she poked him with her nose again. He reached over and scratched behind her ear. "Cat..." he said, yawning. "I suppose you're hungry." Hermione meowed. She got up and stretched properly and licked her nose. Being a cat was so strange. One had the compulsion to do absolutely nothing, but Hermione remembered that she had a job to do. She turned away as Draco changed into some lounging clothes, studying the calendar. She had been here how long now? Nearly three weeks. She hadn't contacted the Order in a few days; they would be waiting to hear from her.

She heard the bell ring that meant her food was ready. A house elf had brought her some tuna and she meowed a thank you at him as she walked over and began to eat. After all, being a cat was no excuse not to be polite. She was thankful that Draco left his window open so that she could go to the bathroom outside. When she was lucky enough she could go to the bathroom in the manor. Draco had a bathroom in his suite that she could use when he was not around, but this was not often. Sometimes Lucius would turn up at Draco's door, and she would hide under the bed. He would take Draco away and he would come back hours later, tired and bruised. She did the best she could to find out the plans of the Death Eaters, but it was tough. She could climb into the chimney network if she had to, but luckily Lucius' office was below Draco's room where she spent most of her time.

She finished her breakfast and started to clean herself. Draco had gone to take a bath and get dressed for the day. With her cat ears she could listen to almost any conversation but Lucius did not usually have them in the manor, he usually Apparated elsewhere. Hermione had managed to gather that they were planning not to go for Harry, but for Dumbledore this time around. There was a name she had heard, Grimwalde, but she had not yet had the opportunity to tell Lupin. She had also avoided telling them that she was living in Draco's room. Like most rooms in the Malfoy manor it had a fireplace which she could communicate through. She had hidden some Floo powder that she used in a jar on the fireplace one day, and it was beginning to run out. She would have to either leave to get supplies or reveal herself to Draco soon.

She was surprised at how she had warmed to Draco. Draco came back from his father's meetings covered in cuts and bruises, and she would go to him as he crawled, shaking and weak onto his bed. The first time this happened she had not made herself known to him and watched from outside the window as he lay on the bed trying not to move. She felt guilty watching because she did not feel bad, but almost satisfied. She was not happy that he was suffering but she felt better knowing that he had a hard time from someone. His hard time, however, was probably the worst time anyone could have. She knew he was being taken to meet the Deatheaters but he must have been resisting.

He had come back only three days ago with large bruises on his arms and legs, and cuts all over. He had stripped to his underwear and lain down. He looked like he was trying not to cry and so she had gone to the bed, smelled the fresh blood on him. He didn't want to let her near him but she pressed on, sniffing out the cuts. They were on his back, accompanied by large welts. Shocked as she was, she began to lick the blood from his cuts with her rough tongue. After the cuts on his back she jumped over him and began to clean his chest and finally his face. His face was relatively untouched, but there were still random looking scratches, like he had been cut by a bracken bush. She finished cleaning his cuts and licked his nose.

He smiled despite the pain he was in and lifted his arm and put it on her back. Hermione has been used to sleeping on the bed, the second week at his feet, the third by either his chest or back. She had not been used to being cuddled, though and it was strange. At first she felt like she would suffocate but she realized it was just the strangeness of the cat body and sleeping on her belly.

She shifted to her side and fell into a deep sleep for a few hours, when she would transform back to her human self, use the Floo powder and let the Order know what was going on. When she woke up, though, she decided that she would go back to sleep and slept until the morning. She had known that the Order members would be upset, but she didn't particularly care. Nearly a week later, however she knew she would have to get in contact with them soon. Lucius would not show up for another couple of days to take Draco away...Lupin told her that they would send a rescue mission if they did not hear from her every third day and she had managed to contact them two days ago but today it would be difficult. It was already eleven o' clock, and Draco would not be going to bed until late in the night. She had to contact the Order this evening.