Love You Like Kittens

Love You Like Kittens

It was a kitten. A small, fuzzy, noisy, dirty, not to mention ugly, ordinary srab of a kitten. I couldn't understand what the big thrill was in a kitten. It certainly wasn't as fun as my newest training broom, or even the Salazar Dueler's Kit I had gotten last year for Christmas. But Pansy loved it, and she brought it every where. And Merlin! It never shut up.

"I'm tired of playing out here," Pansy complained, as I zoomed around, my feet brushing the ground as I attempted to catch my practice snitch.

"Then go inside," I replied, squinting around. Where had it gone?

"Come on, Draco," she pleaded. "Baby is hot."

"Baby?" I asked incredulously, staring down at the meowing kitten. "You mean you actually named it?"

Looking affronted, she stuck out a stubborn chin. "So?"

Shaking my head in disbelief, I returned to searching for the snitch. "Girls," I muttered to myself as she stalked off towards the manor.

*~*

I soon learned that not only did kittens smell, but they ruined things as well.

"Pansy!" I howled. "Your cat just ripped my favorite Quidditch robes!"

Pansy held the pathetic excuse for a creature, in her arms protectively. "Did not!" she protested, sticking out a pouting lip.

"Did too!" I insisted, pointing to the cat hair all over my robes.

"What is all this noise?" an authoritive voice demanded from my open door.

I looked over at Mother, screwing my face into my best crying look and pointed an accusatory finger at Pansy. "Mum, her cat ruined my robes!"

My mother raised an elegant brow. "Is that so?"

I nodded glumly.

"And where were your robes?" she demanded.

I considered. "On the floor."

"Is that where they belong?" she asked again.

I quickly realized that I was not going to win the argument as Pansy flounced out the door to return home with her parents. Instead, I yelled at the house elves, it was their fault for not cleaning my room sooner anyway.

*~*

For Pansy's seventh birthday, I gave her a necklace with a matching collar for Baby. She was thrilled. I could only shake my head... girls were weird. I spent the rest of the party with Gregory and Vincent, playing with the halfway decent toys Pansy had gotten.

For my seventh birthday, Pansy complained the whole time, and wouldn't play with anything. She just cooed over her stupid cat. What a waste of a good party, and it was a good one, I got my first five foot limit broom!

*~*

My parents were holding a ball, so all the children were spending the night in my nursery. Vincent and Gregory were with us as well as an ugly girl Pansy called Milly, and as usual Baby had tagged along as well.

"I wanna try!" Pansy wailed, as I held the charmed wand out of her reach. "C'mon Draco, you never let me do anything!"

In a fit of retaliation she broke my dragon model that I had worked for days on. I kicked her cat.

*~*

It was days later when she returned with her parents, and they stuck us in the nursery once again. She looked over at me angrily as I glared at her.

"You are such a spoiled little brat, Draco!" she sneered.

"At least I'm not a pug face!" I replied.

Her expression slackened. I had hit a sore spot. "What did you call me?" she demanded.

"Pugface! Pugface! Pugface!" I tormented her.

"Stop it!" she yelled, tears gathering in her eyes.

I revelled in this sudden power I had over her.

"Pugface, pugface, pugface. Puggy Pug Pansy!"

"Stop!" she screamed.

I grinned, enjoying the banter of childish cruelty.

Face screwed in rage, she raced over to my toy section and grabbed my broom. Before the dawning horror even seeped into my mind she tossed it into the hearth.

"Pansy, NO!" I yelled, racing forward. But it was too late, my broom was ruined.

I turned to look at her in rage, grabbing her and shaking her as hard as I could. I had practiced since I was five so I could earn Father's approval to fly a higher broom. And she had just taken it away in a second, all over a petty taunting!

Without thinking I wrenched the kitten from her arms and threw it away from me. It hit the nearest wall with a howl, before dropping to the floor.

We froze in shock, as I heard Pansy draw in a horrified gasp from beside me. She rushed forward, tears streaking her face as she picked up her limp kitten. Blood matted in the fur around its head.

"You killed her!" she accused through her sobs. "You killed my cat!"

I stood there, amazed at the power I had just released from my own hands, and terrified of it all at the same time. Then when the impact of what I'd done dawned, I could only stare at Pansy helplessly as she sobbed over Baby.

"It's just a kitten," I muttered, uncomfortably.

She glared at me, her eyes filled with hurt. "I loved her!"

"Well, I'm not crying over my broom!" I retorted.

"That was a broom, Draco!" she screeched.

When I stepped forward to do something she backed away angrily.

"Leave me alone. I never want to see you EVER again. I hate you!"

*~*

I had never before felt guilty in my life, and that experience was my first. We hardly talked whenever we saw each other after that and would read a book or silently agree to play a mutual, but nonspeaking game. With time, we gradually got over our trial and played as we once had. I would soon grow bored of her company, and she would complain... as usual.

It was a couple months after the "incident" and we still hadn't talked about it. However, I had a surprise for Pansy one day, as she walked into the nursery, prepared for another boring day while our parents drank tea.

She froze as she spotted the kitten I had placed in the middle of the room. I waited hesitantly, scared of how she would reply. I wasn't sure if she would ever want another kitten after that day.

I let out a breath of relief when she smiled in delight and rushed forward, cooing over how beautiful it was, although I had made sure to pick the ugliest one I could find. Pansy liked ugly creatures for some reason. She eventually named the kitten Daffodil, a horrible name for a kitten if you ask me.

*~*

What amazed me was how quickly her love could transfer from one creature to the next. It was a simplistic emotion for Pansy, that easily enveloped all the things she enjoyed around her.

It was this same love that eventually captured myself in it's ensnaring grasp ten years later, and the love that has endured throughout our three years of marriage.

The love for a kitten, was my first understanding of what the emotion meant. It has only grown into a better comprehension throughout the years into an understanding love. Pansy and I understand each other, in more ways than one.

I am still a spoiled brat, as she has informed me on several occasions, and she still complains outrageously. However, the memory of us sitting alone in the library over a year ago, still burns deep within me. We had both been reading quietly, and Pansy was spread out on the couch, her head in my lap.

"Draco?" she asked sleepily, yawning.

"Hm," I replied, playing with her coal black curls absently, as I continued reading.

"Do you love me?"

It was a rather foolish thing to ask, even for Pansy, and I looked down on her in surprise. The fire from the hearth had captured her in the moment, casting a rosy glow upon her skin and enhancing the inner fire that flares within her spicy brown eyes. She had a hand rested over the swell of her stomach, which guarded the growth of our first child.

I smiled suddenly, feeling rather foolish myself. "I love you like kittens," I replied.

Her eyes lit up in delight as I bent down to plant a soft kiss on her beautiful lips. Her nose crinkled up as she laughed. "Me too," she whispered.