Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

Because Malfoy Owned a Cat

Malfoy owned a cat.

This was the only thought that Harry was able to process whilst he stood as though frozen to the spot in the living room of Draco Malfoy's flat.

He wasn't sure why this realisation shocked and surprised him so much. After all, a lot of his friends and work colleagues owned cats, like Hermione, Neville and even Luna Lovegood, among several strange pets that she owned.

Besides, it wasn't as though there were anything special about the cat. It was cute, definitely, and Harry might even have attempted to stroke it, if it hadn't been lying fast asleep on Malfoy's chest, oblivious to how strange the situation looked from Harry's point of view.

However, putting aside its obvious cuteness, the cat was simply black and white in colour, like many other cats that Harry had seen before, and it didn't look like it possessed any magical abilities or came from a Kneazle background. In fact, if Harry hadn't known that its owner was a proud pure-blood, he might have taken it for a cat that belonged to a Muggle family.

He also knew that there were several, much more important issues that he should have been focusing on, like the fact that he had actually gone to the extreme of Apparating into Malfoy's flat to continue an argument which the two of them had been having for most of the day, or the fact that he was now standing only meters away from Malfoy and watching him sleep on his sofa, which sounded strange at best, and slightly creepy at worst.

Even though several years had passed since their sixth year at Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione still accused Harry of being obsessed with Draco Malfoy on an almost weekly basis, coupled with several accusations that Harry always seemed to start unnecessary and ridiculous arguments with the former Slytherin whenever he was ignoring him, almost as though he couldn't stand the idea of not having Malfoy's constant attention. Harry had always vehemently denied these accusations, but he was sure that if his best friends could see him now, he wouldn't be able to say very much to support his previous protestations of innocence.

On the one hand, it wasn't as though Harry had broken any magical laws by entering Malfoy's home. Since they had started working together as Auror partners, Malfoy had given Harry permission to Apparate into his flat in Hogmeade or his family home at the Manor in case of emergency, and Harry had told Malfoy to do the same whenever necessary.

On the other hand, he couldn't help feeling like he had just overstepped some sort of invisible boundary between the two of them.

Harry had never actually entered either of Malfoy's homes before, partly because there had never been an emergency great enough for him to do so, but mainly because he had always considered any impromptu home visits to be an intrusion into the personal life of his work partner, a partner whose life outside of work had remained a mystery to Harry up until this moment.

At the Ministry, even though he and Malfoy worked well together when it came to capturing dark wizards, the two of them seemed to spend the rest of the time arguing; sometimes over petty things, like the fact that Harry didn't like it when Blaise Zabini constantly paid visits to their office to speak to Malfoy, or the fact that Malfoy then insisted on going on for what seemed like hours on end about how attractive he thought that Zabini was, much to Harry's irritation, which was exactly what had started this morning's argument. The fact that Harry was unable to explain to Malfoy (or even to himself) the exact reason why he got so annoyed by Blaise's visits had only served to enrage Malfoy even further.

At other times, they argued over more serious issues, like accusations about their behaviour in the past, or whose fault one of many incidents at Hogwarts had been, which was exactly what the morning's argument had descended into by the afternoon.

By the end of the day, Harry had been absolutely furious with Malfoy. He had also been determined not to let him have the last word in their argument about the past, which was the main reason why he had made the decision to go to his flat after Malfoy turned around and walked away from him as soon as the working day was over.

Harry had been temporarily distracted by Hermione on his way out of the Ministry, and she had tried her best to persuade him not to go and to wait until Monday before he spoke to Malfoy again.

Harry hadn't listened to Hermione's advice, as for some strange reason, he hadn't been overly keen on the idea of waiting until Monday to talk to Malfoy, especially after he had spent the past few weekends out in the countryside with him on various Auror assignments, where they had been able to continue their typical weekly arguments for an extra two days. However, he realised that he must have been talking to Hermione for longer than he thought, as Malfoy had apparently had time to change out of his robes and fall asleep before Harry's arrival.

The cat stretched itself out and moved around slightly, as though making itself more comfortable. Harry continued to stare at it, then he stared at its owner again.

After a few moments of careful consideration, Harry decided that the reason why he was so shocked was because it was Draco Malfoy, the wizard who had always seemed so cold and uncaring, who owned a cat.

If Malfoy had ever told Harry in passing conversation at work that he owned a cat, Harry would never have believed him. As far as he was concerned, Malfoy had never seemed interested in looking after anything, apart from himself. Yet Malfoy was holding the cat so lovingly in his arms, like he really cared about it, and Harry was starting to doubt a few of his previous opinions of his former rival.

Another thing that shocked him about the scene in front of him was how innocent the whole thing looked, how innocent Malfoy looked as he slept peacefully with his arms draped loosely around his pet, looking like he was comforting and protecting it at the same time. Almost as though he didn't spend his days throwing not-so-innocent insults at Harry from his side of their shared office.

Harry had never really seen Malfoy like this, calm and unguarded, with his hair dishevelled and wearing trousers and a jumper instead of his usual elegant Auror robes. He had occasionally wondered what Malfoy was like at home, but he had never imagined that he would be like this.

Towards the end of their time at Hogwarts, Harry had caught glimpses of a more vulnerable side of Draco Malfoy; but over the years, as Malfoy's cold public mask had gradually slipped back into place, Harry had almost forgotten that his work partner was able to do much more than sneer at him between insults.

Malfoy stirred slightly in his sleep, but he didn't wake up. As Harry watched him, he saw for the first time just how tired he looked. His face looked paler than usual, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

They had definitely had a stressful few months at work, with the two of them often missing out on a good night's sleep so that they could finish their reports, and they had also been forced to spend long days and nights out in the middle of nowhere, attempting to chase after suspected dark wizards.

Harry had never really considered the idea that stressful days at work might have taken their toll on Malfoy, as he always looked so calm and collected, in spite of the long hours, but now that he was seeing him outside of work, he was starting to wonder if Malfoy was only pretending to be composed and in control of their workload. He also wondered if Malfoy's bad moods and insults were in part due to exhaustion.

In a way, he felt guilty for never asking his work partner how he was coping or if he was okay.

Suddenly, Malfoy's cat opened its eyes. It jumped slightly when it caught sight of the stranger in its home and kept its eyes open, staring intently at Harry as though trying to work out who he was.

Harry stared back at it in silence, reluctant to make any noise to wake Malfoy up. He couldn't help but wonder if Malfoy had many visitors to his flat.

At work, it wasn't unknown for Harry to look up from the rolls of parchment on his desk so that he could stare at Malfoy, usually during their moments of silence between their arguments. He didn't really have any explanation as to why he did this, but he rarely had the chance to do it for very long, as Malfoy nearly always looked up from his own rolls of parchment after a few seconds so that he could glare at Harry.

Now, in spite of the obvious exhaustion written all over Malfoy's face, in a strange way, Harry liked seeing him like this, curled up on his sofa fast asleep with his cat. There was something reassuring about the realisation that he seemed to have a softer, more caring side.

A strange, nervous-sounding voice in Harry's head let him know that he could get used to seeing Malfoy like this.

The cat stood up, stretched itself out and jumped off the sofa. It walked slowly and cautiously towards Harry.

Harry stood still and tried to remain calm, hoping that the cat wouldn't make any sudden noises.

After a few seconds of staring, the cat walked in a circle around Harry's legs, apparently deciding that it could trust Harry, even if its owner didn't. Harry bent down slightly so that he could stroke it, and he heard the cat purr softly in response.

Eventually, the cat walked away from Harry and returned to its previous position on Malfoy's chest. Harry thought again about how comfortable it looked.

He took a few moments to cast a quick glance around the room.

If anybody had ever asked Harry what he thought Malfoy's flat would be like, he probably would have imagined a place resembling the old Slytherin common room: somewhere cold, dark and impersonal, decorated in Slytherin colours of green and silver, perhaps with a few pictures of snakes scattered around the room, and a few 'Potter Stinks' badges thrown onto the coffee table for good measure.

However, in reality, the living room looked almost as bright and cosy as The Burrow. Apart from the sofa, there were also a couple of armchairs covered in multi-coloured blankets and cushions, there were piles of books stacked up untidily on the coffee table, as well as a few phials, which were full of potion ingredients, and, Harry was mildly amused to note, the curtains were bright red.

He noticed that there were several pictures of Malfoy's friends and family displayed on the walls. Malfoy seemed to argue with his father on a weekly basis, and he seemed to get into petty arguments with his friends like Blaise on a daily basis, but the pictures on the walls suggested that perhaps Malfoy was closer to his friends and family than Harry had thought.

Harry's eyes were drawn to a picture of Teddy Lupin, looking happy as he played with the black and white cat which was currently staring at Harry from its comfortable position on Malfoy's chest, whilst Malfoy stood close to Teddy and the cat in the background of the picture.

Harry had always assumed that Andromeda took her grandson to visit the Malfoy family out of obligation and duty, but judging by the photograph, Teddy actually enjoyed his visits to this flat, where he could spend time with his cousin Draco and his cat.

The moment he looked away from the photograph and back towards the sofa, Malfoy opened his eyes.

Harry gasped in shock and then quickly closed his mouth, trying his best to control his breathing and hoping more than anything that Malfoy wouldn't attempt to hex him in a flash of panic or anger. He wondered why he hadn't taken the opportunity to get out of the flat whilst Malfoy was still asleep, instead of standing still and staring at Malfoy and his cat in fascination.

Malfoy's eyes widened and he blinked rapidly, as though he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

After a few seconds, his eyes met Harry's. "I hate you," he mumbled sleepily.

For some reason, Harry was happy to note that the insult lacked its usual venom.

"I hate you, too," Harry replied automatically, the way he always did at work when Malfoy told him that he hated him.

For a second, he was sure that he caught a hint of a smile on Malfoy's lips, but this was quickly replaced by a yawn.

"I'm sorry," Harry mumbled, not really sure whether he was apologising for their latest argument, or for something else. He was glad that at the very least, his apology sounded as sincere as he had intended it to sound. He only wished that he had been able to suppress a yawn just after he spoke.

Malfoy nodded, but he didn't offer any further comment. After a few more seconds of staring at Harry with a confused frown, he closed his eyes again. "We'll talk about it later, Potter," he muttered, still sounding half asleep.

Feeling relieved that Malfoy hadn't thrown one of his usual tantrums or threatened to report him to Kingsley, Harry took the hint and made a move to leave. He would let Malfoy get some much needed rest and enjoy his weekend in peace, then he would talk to him properly on Monday, like Hermione had suggested.

However, he stopped when Malfoy patted an empty spot right next to him on the sofa with his right hand.

Harry blinked, certain that he had only imagined the gesture. But Malfoy opened his eyes slightly and did it again, looking a lot more insistent this time.

Harry took a hesitant step forward, wondering if Malfoy was really inviting him to sit or lay down next to him.

The idea wasn't completely unbelievable. After all, the two of them had often fallen asleep lying fairly close to one another on a few of their Auror assignments out in the middle of nowhere, usually when they reached the point of feeling too exhausted to care about who was sleeping close by.

But still, this was different, because they weren't at work, and this was Malfoy's sofa in Malfoy's flat, and Malfoy owned a cat.

In the end, Harry gave in to the temptation of having a rest on what looked like such a comfortable sofa.

Slowly and carefully, he removed his shoes, took a few tentative steps forward, and sat down on the sofa next to Malfoy.

There seemed to be plenty of space, and Harry had his suspicions that Malfoy had made the sofa wider with a little help from a wand.

Harry shifted around slightly, moved a few cushions out of the way and stretched out so that he was lying down.

As strange as the situation was, he found it surprisingly easy to get comfortable next to his work partner. However, he made sure to throw a few cautious glances in Malfoy's direction, just in case it suddenly dawned on him just how strange the situation was and he decided to throw Harry out of his flat.

Malfoy said nothing, but Harry was sure that as he lifted his arms to grab a blanket from the arm of the sofa, he turned his head ever so slightly so that he could throw a furtive glance in Harry's direction.

Harry noticed that Malfoy's cat was moving, and as Malfoy settled down again and covered their legs with the blanket, the cat managed to position itself so that it was lying across both Harry and Malfoy's chests.

Harry moved even closer to Malfoy, reasoning that the cat would be more comfortable if they were sleeping right next to each other, as it would mean that it didn't have to stretch itself out too much.

He was surprised by how relaxed he felt, with Malfoy so close to him, and their hands practically touching.

He had always felt strangely jealous whenever he walked into Ron and Hermione's house only to find them cuddled up on their sofa with their cat, and now that he was getting the opportunity to experience something that he hadn't even known that he had wanted, he was starting to understand the reason why he had always felt so envious of their scenes of domestic bliss.

He just hadn't expected that he would end up sharing a similar moment with a wizard who he spent most of his days arguing with.

Before he arrived at Malfoy's flat, Harry hadn't realised just how exhausted he was, but now that he was lying on Malfoy's sofa, it didn't take long before he felt his eyes closing. He was certain that he would be asleep in a matter of minutes. A part of him hoped that Malfoy would allow him to stay here all night, so that they could both get a good night's sleep together before they even attempted to discuss their most recent falling out.

As he drifted off to sleep, Harry decided that even though the situation was strange, and even though they would no doubt return to their arguments and accusations the second they woke up, and even though he would have some serious explaining to do when Malfoy finally decided to ask him why he had Apparated into his living room in the first place, he had a strange feeling that maybe, after tonight, they would be able to work things out.

Maybe they would begin understand each other better now. Maybe they would learn how to discuss the past without arguing. Maybe Harry would finally be able to understand his strange obsession with provoking arguments with Malfoy and his jealousy of Malfoy's friendship with Blaise. Maybe Draco would allow him to be a part of this other, more personal side of his life. Maybe everything would be okay, eventually.

Because Malfoy owned a cat.