Every Guy has a Soft Spot for a Cat

The corridors outside Gryffindor Tower were terribly dark at night. This was a well-known fact to everyone at Hogwarts...everyone except a particular Draco Malfoy who wouldn't have noticed much of anything unless it gave off his reflection or felt like a good shag.

"Bloody fucking hell," he hissed, tripping on yet another statue which he was beginning to suspect was the exact same one he had tripped over the last six times. "This is a ruddy excuse for a hallway...so bloody dark."

"Oof! Who goes there?"

Draco stumbled backwards, realizing that he had tumbled into the portrait of a fat lady. "Erm...bugger."

She squinted at him through the darkness. "Well?"
"Erm..."

"The password," she snapped. "Unless you feel like tripping over the statue another six times."

Draco frowned. The fact that he hadn't really come up with a plan other than "get into Gryffindor Tower" and that he had no idea how to get into Gryffindor Tower presented itself quite forcefully.

He pointed his wand at the portrait angrily. "How about you open up right now, or I hex you into oblivion?"

She rolled her eyes. "Try again, pretty boy."

He threw his hands up in despair. "I don't know...wanker."

The porthole creaked open slowly.

Draco paused in surprise then jumped through the porthole gleefully.

The Slytherin's first thought upon entering enemy territory was one of sadness in relation to the décor.

The hideous scarlets and golds seemed almost luminescent in the pale light.

Draco crept around the common room cautiously, searching everywhere.

"Harry," he whispered. "Harry..."

He lifted up a tea cozy. "Harry?"

Nothing.

"Damn." He tossed it on the floor, poised to throw a tantrum.

Someone coughed upstairs.

Draco crouched down fearfully.

Harry could be upstairs.

He glanced at the door to the boys' dormitory and swallowed. Risk it?

He moved up the staircase in what he hoped was a noiseless manner.

A strange unwashed smell he could hardly find imaginable and certainly not acceptable in the Slytherin dorms wafted toward him as he opened the door.

"Harry..." he cooed softly. "C'mere Harry darling...here Harry..."

He scowled at the tuft of red hair from Weasley's covers. He squatted down to look under the Gryffindor's bed. This was clearly where the unwashed smell was emanating from.

"Oh Merlin." He gasped, covering his face.

He moved to the next bed. "Harry..." he mumbled. A soft purring sound reached his ears. "Harry?"

***

Harry hated dreaming, mainly due to the fact that they always contained some cryptic message involving Voldemort and/or death (usually and).

His current dream, however, was different and fantastically more horrific. This dream involved Draco Malfoy and himself doing the nasty in a row boat...for some reason it was the row boat that unsettled him. Why a rowboat?

He spotted Butterwick on the edge of the boat. "Butterwick?"

He crawled toward the cat, mesmerized.

Butterwick gave him a quick wink before plunging into the lake.

Harry lunged forward.

Draco caught his hand. "Harry."

He pulled free and dove after the feline.

Everything became surreal as he moved through the water, searching desperately for the cat.

"Butterwick!" He choked on water, not realizing that it had been rather stupid to scream underwater.

Darkness eased around him as he drifted deeper.

Draco's soft, eerie voice followed him.

"Harry...Harry...Harry..."

Harry snapped upright and glanced around the room.

"Harry."

He rubbed his eyes and snatched up his glasses.

"Harry."

"What?"

Someone in the shadows jumped up.

"What is it?" he mumbled.

The figure tensed, backing away slowly.

Harry put on his glasses.

Beside his bed, stood the very boy had been shagging in a row boat moments before.

"Malfoy, what are you--"

The other boy silenced him. "What do you want?"

"I want to know why you are in the Gryffindor dormitory," he said calmly.

Malfoy shifted uneasily. "I was...er...looking for my...um...my cat," he managed finally.

"Your cat?" said Harry.

Malfoy scowled.

Harry adjusted his glasses and leaned forward a bit. "And uh...why were you whispering my name?"

Malfoy seemed even more embarrassed. "That's um...his name," he mumbled. "His name is Harry."

Harry was getting the impression that either he or Malfoy was bonkers. He wasn't sure which yet.

"You see," the other boy continued awkwardly. "He looks incredibly like you...green eyes...black hair...and such."

Harry's eyes widened. "That sounds like my cat, Butterwick."

Malfoy pointed at him victoriously. "I knew it! Catnapper!"

Harry frowned. "Are you on crack or something?"

Malfoy gave him a confused look. "I'm standing on a crack in the floor...I guess... Why?"

"Nevermind."

Harry stood, only to reveal that he was shirtless.

The Slytherin paled, giving him a strange look. "Where is he?"

Harry glanced at him in annoyance. "He likes to sleep in the drawer over here," he said.

He froze. "Um...he's gone."

Malfoy gave an angry huff. "You're hiding him from me, aren't you?"

"Don't be stupid."

"You're out to get me. You always have been! And now, you've taken the only pet I've ever loved!"

He shoved Harry who bumped into the bed.

Harry pushed him back and pinned him to the wall.

"Ow!" Malfoy squealed.

"Quit being such a whiney bitch!" Harry hissed.

Malfoy seemed flustered by the look on Harry's face.

Harry turned away quickly. "I don't know where Butterwick...er...Harry is, but we're going to have to figure this out sensibly."

Malfoy bit his lip.

Harry sighed in exasperation.

The Slytherin perked up suddenly. "Oh look, there's a note!"