A/N: So I've just become obsessed with the Marauders. *sighs* Hope you enjoy!

Damn Cat

"JAMES." The shrill voice echoed throughout the flat and James awoke with a start, blinking wearily and picking his face up off the couch cushion. He wiped some drool off his cheek and ran a hand through his hair, groaning as his stiff muscles tried to realign themselves after having been halfway sprawled across a sofa for five hours.

"JAMES." The voice sounded again and James grumbled, grabbing at his glasses on the coffee table and spilling a half-filled mug of something onto the floor. Cursing, he pulled himself up from the couch and grabbed the nearest food-stained piece of cloth to throw on the foor.

"JAMES THERE IS SOMETHING IN MY FUCKING ROOM."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP SIRIUS," James bellowed back, obviously very annoyed at having been woken up at any time that wasn't after noon. There was a flurry of footsteps and a much disheveled looking Sirius entered the room, obviously distraught.

"You gotta help me, it has fangs and claws."

"You have fangs and claws too," James muttered harshly, pushing past Sirius to get to the bathroom in the hallway. He paused at the sound of something crashing to the ground upstairs and glanced upwards toward Sirius's bedroom. A faint but audible 'mrrow' followed the crash and James had to hide a small smile. "That's a cat Sirius," he pointed out calmly, but the distraught look on his best friend's face didn't change.

"Get it out. Please? I can't handle cats, you know that." The whine in his voice reminded James of a despairing puppy and he chuckled. "Don't laugh!" Sirius added hotly, scrunching his eyebrows together and crossing his arms defensively.

"It's a damn cat Padfoot. Just throw it out the window or something. Use magic for crying out loud." Suddenly the cat appeared at the top of the stairs, sticking out its little head and studying them curiously. It proceeded to bound down the stairs, stopping on the last step and sniffing the air cautiously. It was a very small cat, probably only a year old, with an orange tabby pelt and light green eyes. It let out a questioning 'mrrow?' and curled its tail around its paws.

"Vermin," Sirius hissed under his breath. James got down on one knee and stretched out a hand to the cat.

"Hey there little guy," he cooed, a small smile slipping onto his face when the cat rubbed against his hand enthusiastically. He proceeded to pick the cat up, earning more face rubbing and a steadily increasing purr. "You're adorable," James commented, scratching the cat under its chin. "How can you hate this thing Padfoot?" Sirius had visibly calmed down now that James was holding the beast under control, but he was still on his guard.

"Just get it out of the house," he said gruffly, storming past them to get back up into his room. James chuckled quietly to himself before walking to the front door. He let down the little cat gently onto the stone steps and then closed the door behind him, hearing a confused meow from the other side.

Few days later…

James wandered idly into the kitchen, glancing around and trying to find something edible. He opened up the fridge and peered inside, squinting in order to properly see the contents. He grimaced at the sight of something purple and molding and instead grabbed a container of pumpkin juice that seemed somewhat consumable. Pulling out his wand, he gave it a quick flick and grabbed a glass which floated toward him. He poured himself a glass and leaned against the kitchen counter, allowing himself a few seconds of pause before he went to put the juice back in the refrigerator. In a sudden flurry of noises and movements, an orange blur darted into the kitchen. This blur was followed by a very much larger black mass of growling and snarling fur.

James had half a second to jump up from his leaning position and watch futilely as the orange blur ran between his legs and jumped up onto the top of the fridge.

"What the-" his outburst was cut off as a very angry dog barreled into him, sending him sprawling onto the floor with pumpkin juice going everywhere. He landed painfully on his behind and let out a yowl, instinctively reaching down to catch himself and crushing the glass in his hand. He let out more curses of pain as glass stabbed into his skin, causing blood to mix with the juice on the floor.

"Merlin fucking christ," he spat out, whipping his head around angrily at the sound of a certain dog barking his head off and trying to get to the cat which was cowering at the top of the fridge. "Sirius!" James's bellow didn't faze the man and James staggered into a standing position, grabbing the nearest object and hurtling it at his friend. Sirius suddenly yelped as an empty can hit him in the shoulder. He silenced his barking as he saw the state that his friend was in, and in a few seconds he had transformed back into his human form. "What the fuck. What. The fuck." James's anger had not abated and he emphasized his words with firm hand gestures, sending little droplets of blood everywhere.

"Merlin, Prongs, you're bleeding," Sirius pointed out, awkwardly gesturing at James's hand.

"No really?" James snarled. Sirius looked around, spotting the rag hanging from the stove handle and grabbing it, offering it to James with a shameful look.

"Sorry mate," he mumbled, sounding sincerely apologetic.

"It's a fucking cat," James hissed, snatching the rag and gingerly wrapping it around his hand with more curse words. The cat peeked its head out, meowing cautiously which caused both the men to glare at it. "Get it out of here," James continued, shaking pumpkin juice out of his hair and turning around, gingerly making his way out of the kitchen.

There was a brief pause after James had left the kitchen before Sirius turned his head slowly to glare at the cat.

"Look what you've done," he hissed, taking a slow step toward the refrigerator. The cat, obviously sensing what was about to happen, took a huge leap and disappeared around the corner, causing Sirius to groan in frustration before he set off after it.

A few days after that…

"Hey James?" Remus poked his head around the corner into the living room. James was half asleep on the couch, his arm around Lily's shoulder and his head rested lightly on hers.

"Oh Remus, come watch this movie, James isn't appreciating its beauty." Lily's playful tone was halfway directed toward the man next to her and he lazily grinned, swatting at her with his free hand.

"I am doing a great job appreciating it from the back of my eyelids," he mumbled, leaning over and dropping kisses on her head until she started giggling and squirming. Remus couldn't help but smile.

"Cute, but I'm honestly concerned about the fact that there's a cat standing outside of Sirius's bedroom and he refuses to open the door." Remus gave a sheepish smile. James sighed and let his head fall back onto the couch.

"Oh that's just Penelope," Lily said with a shrug, focusing on the movie as something on screen caught her attention.

"Or as we like to call her, a lovable pain in the ass." Lily elbowed James in the ribs and he winced.

"Right, well, I'm still concerned about Sirius's wellbeing," Remus continued, casting a glance up the stairs to where the cat was curled up happily outside of Sirius's bedroom door. "Also, you named it?"

"Not it, she," Lily corrected, casting a stern glance at the man in the doorway.

"Don't be worried about him, he's an idiot." James raised his voice a bit so that it was audible up the stairs.

"We are not naming the stupid cat!" The faint voice of Sirius trailed down toward them and Lily had to stifle a laugh.

"He really hates that thing," Remus noted.

"Yea, but Penelope is staying," Lily said, matching Jame's volume. There was a flurry of footsteps from upstairs and a slight shriek from a cat as the animal darted away from a furious Sirius.

"I swear to god, I will kill that cat." Sirius glared at Lily who just stuck out her tongue at him and buried into James's embrace.

"Well it's nice to see you too," Remus commented casually, leaning against the doorframe.

"Hi," Sirius huffed, crossing his arms.

"Didn't know you weren't a cat person."

"Shut up…" Remus ducked his head down to hide a smile.

"Come on; let's get you out of this house before you drench someone in pumpkin juice again." Remus idly pulled at Sirius's shirt, turning him around toward the door.

"We're not keeping the stupid cat," Sirius muttered under his breath. James and Lily responded in unison to his complaint, more to irk him than anything.

"We're keeping the cat." The only response they got was Sirius slamming the front door behind him and they both burst out snickering.