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ONE SHOT!

Blame my husband for the title!

So I've had this in my mind for a pretty long time and REALLY needed to write this story.

Outerhouse is running dry and I want to continue to write other original stories. I have a few other concepts that I want to try, including getting back to Sweet Nectar my fairy story.

So for now, I think Outerhouse will be on hiatus after I get up the chapter I've been working on for it. I was really looking forward to having it done by December, but I just don't know.

There's a sequel up called CATaclysm, for those who wanted it!

7/25/2011

Go read and review please.

CATastrophe

Hermione couldn't believe her luck as it began to rain in Diagon Ally. Of course her first official day of being a registered animagus, it would start pouring. It was a difficult art to master and after all the months she'd spent studying and practicing, she was finally legally able to venture out and this happens. Within a few seconds, Hermione's small frame and honey brown tabby fur was almost soaked.

She hated that she turned into such a small cat. To an onlooker, she was sure she'd seem like a 5 month old kitten, but she was a petite girl resulting in a petite cat she guessed. Still, she decided that she'd lucked out on the human attributes ending there, and blessedly being a short hair. At least passerby's wouldn't look at her and think she was a tumbleweed on the street.

Hermione ran for cover beneath Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions' awning. It was really coming down and after a few minutes of waiting, it didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon, so Hermione decided that her little adventure was at an end. She watched the pedestrians head inside the nearest pub and was getting ready to change back, when the bell above the door to the shop rang.

Hermione didn't have a chance to register what was happening until it was too late and a good portion of her back leg was broken beneath the large foot that had stepped on it. She yelled in pain and it came out as a loud meow. The foot was quickly removed and she tried to limp away but fell over in pain.

She looked up to see who the culprit was and heard herself hiss at the sight of Malfoy standing far above her. Hermione thought about changing back, just to yell at him, but thought better of it. It wasn't like exposing herself to him would make him feel any remorse for what he'd done. Not only that, but with the pain in her leg she could hardly focus enough for the transformation.

Now he was scowling at her like he'd been the one to have his leg snapped. Just what you'd expect of a jerk like him.

"Damn cat," he mumbled and started to walk away. He made it three steps into the rain before pausing and huffing a sigh. He turned back, walked up to her looking disgruntled and she was sure he was going to finish what he'd started when he reach out to her.

"Bloody stupid animals," he huffed before gently lifting her from the ground and tucking her close to his chest under his coat.

Hermione, yelped in pain and then forgot about the ache when she realized how high up she was. Disoriented from the lift, she clung her claws into his skin. She hated heights, and being pick up like that was beyond scary.

"Careful with those," Draco said angrily, pulling her paw away from his flesh, "Don't make me regret this."

And then she was clawing his chest again as he apparated.

They landed at the Malfoy manor and he again cursed pulling her paws away from him as they entered through the front door. Hermione tried not to panic, as she was taken up stairs, down a long corridor and into a room before he set her down on a bed and left, mumbling under his breath and rubbing his scared chest along the way.

Hermione tried to sit up but it hurt too much, and she wasn't about to transform back now that she was in her enemy's lair.

Chances were that he was just going to heal her up and then send her on her way. Maybe everyone had a bit of a conscience after all. Okay, she could deal with this. Besides, she wasn't experienced enough with being an animagus that she didn't want to attempt turning herself back and risk messing up the placement of her broken bones if she didn't have to.

Sure, this will be easy. He'll come back with a potion or mend me using a spell and then I'll be out of here.

Just as she had settled her mind, Draco returned to the room with a few books in hand. He set them down on a desk nearby and pulled off his shirt before heading to the bathroom and closing the door. She'd really done a number on him and her bloody claw marks were the only things marring his otherwise perfect physique.

She heard the sink running and him let out a string of curses before he finally emerged, dabbing a washcloth over his scared chest. He went over to the books and opened one before addressing her.

"You'd better hope that you don't have rabies," he threatened and Hermione smiled at his precautionary measures. He'd used a very painful cream to clean out the cuts just in case, instead of healing the wounds over with his wand. At least he was going to suffer a little too. It wasn't much, but it was something.

He continued staring at her for a bit before turning to his open book and speaking.

"You think it's funny, huh?" he asked and Hermione was stunned. Of course she thought it was funny, but she was a cat, and she couldn't possibly be smiling.

"Yah well," he continued, "if I can't find the right spell, or potion to fix you, I'll have to do the only humane thing, and put you down," he said and then muttered, "then we'll see whose laughing ."

Then as if to see her expression he turned to her again and smirked at the worry he must have seen there. Realizing that he couldn't know that he'd gotten to her, she hissed at him and he chuckled.

"Pretty damn smart cat," he said before going back to flipping pages and Hermione was sure for a moment that he knew that it was her but shook it off, chucking it up to paranoia.

Hermione sat there trying to be patient while he thumbed page after page, eventually setting aside the first book and moving on to the second one.

Now, she was well aware that perhaps she'd studied more useless spells than anyone in her generation, but it was just ridiculous of him not to know how to mend bones. McGonagall had taught them a few different ways in Transfiguration over the years, just in case they hurt one of the animals they were working on.

Okay, to be fair, McGonagall hadn't actually taught them, as more done it for them on plenty enough occasions, that Hermione took it upon herself to learn it.

But still, was he even searching the right books? For god's sake, it couldn't take this long to find the right spell when you knew where to look.

She couldn't take it anymore, she had to see what he was doing. She pushed through the pain enough to pull herself up and limp to the edge of the bed where he sat only a foot or so away and she could see him reading over the pages. She pulled herself further over the edge of the bed, inching closer to see the words.

"What are you doing?" he asked annoyed, turning and startling her. She lost her footing and fell a long way down to the floor letting out a blood curdling meow as she landed on her bad leg. Draco stood from the chair laughing it up as he spoke.

"Curiosity killed the cat you know," he said as he embarrassingly picked her up by the nape and set her on the desk beside his book after placing a pillow from the bed beneath her. "If you must be nosy, do it quietly. Not like you'll be much help anyway," he sighed and then stretched before leaving the room.

That was it? He was taking a break already? He didn't seem too committed to helping a poor kitty.

Hermione took this chance to look over the book he was reading. Just a generic healing text…they usually didn't have spells as advanced as bone mending, but she was sure that there should be a simple potion in this kind of book.

If she could just find the page…, but then how would you explain a cat pointing out the proper antidote. But for all he knew, she could be part Kneazle like Crookshanks or something.

She was about to reach for the pages when he reentered holding a small saucer in hand.

"Drink this," he commanded, setting the saucer down in front of her, assuming the cat could understand him.

Hermione looked at the green liquid and smelled it cautiously. She didn't recognize the scent at first but then could almost jump for joy when she realized what the potion was. Pain killer! Just what she needed. Well… not exactly what she needed, but one step closer. She took a few sips, lapping up the bitter stuff, wishing that Malfoy wasn't such an idiot and hoping that he'd find the potion that she knew was in this book somewhere. Seriously, didn't he know how to use a table of contents?

"Good boy," he sighed patting her head and removing the small dish. Boy? He looked thoughtful for a second before leaving the room again.

God, this was humiliating and as soon as this was over, she was going to make sure this story disappeared from her memory bank. At least she was pain free now. But with Malfoy's pace, this potion would wear off before he got his slow moving intellect to figure out that there's a handy thing called a table of contents. She couldn't imagine how horrible her Hogwarts years, fighting the dark lord, would have been without it.

Malfoy returned again, this time holding two small bowls that he set beside her before he took his seat and continued stupidly flipping through each page.

Hermione sighed, she'd just have to hope that the chapter they were looking for wasn't at the very end of the book. She peeled her eyes away from his frustratingly stupid search and examined the two bowls. Water! She went for the bowl lapping up her fill before checking the other bowl.

Cat food?

Okay, she was hungry… but never that starved. That's all she needed to never be able to forget this horrid ordeal. If she took a bite of cat food, this memory would live with her forever. She went back to her pillow and collapsed dejectedly.

The worst part of this was that, after how long this charade had lasted already, if worst came to worst and she had to transform back, there was no way she would ever live this down. She screamed at the thought of him seeing her like this.

Draco looked down at her frustrated meow and then up at the cat food bowl.

"Not to your liking?" he asked, and she hissed at him in her frustration. Who cared about cat food at a time like this? She wanted to yell at him to just get on with his slow moving research and get this over with.

"I see," he said getting up from the desk and taking the bowl of cat food out the door with him.

Oh, for the love of god.

She was never going to be healed at this rate. She waited impatiently for him to return, her tail twitching with irritation, and decided that when he did, she'd keep quiet as not to distract him again. Who knew Draco would be so taken with an animal?

Finally, he came back, setting the bowl beside her again, he took a seat and went on with his work.

In the next few minutes, Hermione really tried to stay still. She really tried not to distract him. But the smell of the raw cut of fish he'd set beside her was overwhelming her cat like smell. If she were a real cat, this would have been very nice of him, and she applauded his generosity when he'd come back with it, but she just couldn't stomach it anymore.

"Please don't," he frowned down at her as she uncontrollably fought against her gag reflex. She was hunched over making gagging noises, and she just couldn't help it…

"Oh come on!" he yelled in disbelief, jumping from the chair as she threw up on his arm, papers, pillow and book. "You little bloody monster…" he mumbled, picking her up using the washcloth he'd had earlier, he wiped her mouth. She could see that it took effort on his part not to toss her as he gently set her back on the bed.

For the next few minutes he used his wand to clean up her mess and then retreated to the bathroom, where she guessed he was washing off his arm. She was so embarrassed. Good thing she was just a cat to him or she'd have been a dead woman.

When Draco emerged he was red in the face as he took his seat again looking down at her.

"This is a lot more trouble than it's worth," he said to himself and Hermione agreed. She was exhausted and wanted to be back in her own house.

She stretch out on the bed with a yawn and figured she may as well take a nap. When she'd gotten herself comfy she looked up at Malfoy, surprised to see that his expression had drastically softened before he sighed and went back to his book.

It was hard for anyone to resist a cat stretch and yawn combo, she supposed.

She knew that if she stayed awake, she'd just get pissed off at how long this was taking, so she decided to take a little cat nap and hoped that when she woke up, he'd have the right potion ready. She closed her eyes and was drifting to sleep when she felt a warm hand rest on her.

She opened her eyes to see Draco petting her. And then to her horror she was purring. It was annoyingly relaxing, and before she could be angry at him for touching her, or angry with herself for enjoying it, she was asleep.

Hermione didn't know how much later it was when she woke up, but the room was dark and Draco had a lamp turned on near his desk. Hermione could still here the patter of rain out side the window.

She couldn't believe he was still at it. How stupid could he be?

She let out a little growling noise and he looked up at her from the books.

"Evening," he spoke in greeting, before returning to his reading. Hermione stretched out and stood up, trotting to the edge of the bed again. There was a dull ache in her leg already and she was going to need another dose of potion soon.

What was the hold up anyway? It looked like he'd gone through a few more books in her absence, and still nothing. She was getting fed up with this. She needed to help him somehow. But what could she do?

"Meow, meooow, meeeoooow….meoow… meow!" she tried, and then he stopped what he was doing to assess her. Now that she got his attention, she paced back and forth on the edge of the bed, watching him and then looking at the desk of books. She wanted to get to the desk to help him.

He stared at her for a bit and then down at the desk then back to her.

Yes, that's right! The desk!

She meowed some more and then he stood up and placed the bowl of water from the desk, in front of her.

No!

She ignored the water and continued to meow, trying her best to point out her destination. He set the bowl back in its place and then ran a hand through his hair in confusion as he watched her.

Okay, this wasn't working. Maybe she could just try and make her way there on her own. She looked over the edge of the high bed and felt queasy. That was a big jump for such a small cat and with a broken leg, but what else could she do?

She leaned over the side, tucking low and moving her shoulders back and forth, preparing for the jump. She tried not to think about her last fall as she focused on landing on her three good legs. Just as she leaped from the bed, she was caught by Draco.

"Hold it," he said cradling her in his arms, "What are you trying to do?"

She struggled and scratched in his embrace, ignoring the fear of heights and trying to get herself closer to the books to make a leap from here if she had to.

He held her by the nape, paralyzing her movements and he examined her.

"What do you want?" he asked in frustration and she really wished she could tell him.

Draco set her back on the bed and then took out his wand, "I didn't know it was going to take this long or I would have done this sooner," he said and Hermione started to panic, was he going to 'put her down?'

She tried to make a jump for it but he caught her and held her down, "Hold on a sec," he muttered and shot a spell at her broken leg. She shut her eyes tight and when she realized that she wasn't dead, she opened them back up to see that he was checking the cast he'd put on her leg.

He looked down at her with a 'what were you expecting?' kind of expression.

"Stupid cat," he mumbled petting her head. Feeling insulted, she pulled away from his hand and bit him as hard as she could, which wasn't too effective. He just chuckled at her nibbling.

Then a doorbell rang from down stairs.

"Oh yeah…" he said, suddenly remembering something before leaving the room again.

Hermione immediately made for the desk, jumping down from the bed and trying to climb the chair to no avail. She was just too damn small and her leg also helped make it impossible. She stretched to her full length and decided that Malfoy's stupid chair was just over extravagantly tall.

Not even a whole minute later she heard Draco's voice coming back toward the room. He was talking to another deep voiced male, and Hermione hated to think that someone else was going to be witness to this.

"You need to take down that anti apparation spell," she heard the other male voice complain, "leaving me out in the rain like that…"

"It's about time you got here anyway, I owled you and hour ago. He's a real little bastard," Draco was saying as he reentered with Blaise Zabini at his side.

"It's just a cat Draco," Blaise said reassuringly.

"There's something strange about him," Draco added closing the door to the room as Blaise spotted her on the floor and lifted her up with a hand under each armpit .

"Strange…" Blaise said examining her, "like that he's a she?" he laughed and Hermione blushed like he was looking at her human privates.

Draco came closer, taking a look.

"I hadn't really checked," he shrugged, "she just seemed manly."

Hermione heard herself let out a little growling mumble and Blaise laughed setting her down on the bed.

"I don't think she likes that," he said looking over Draco's desk. "So you couldn't find anything in these books?" he asked, sorting through the covers.

"No," Draco sighed and Hermione couldn't believe that. Blaise flipped through some pages of a larger book. "You have dogs, so I thought you could help." Draco said sounding mildly disgusted.

"Did you try the table of contents before you blindly started turning pages?" Blaise asked and Hermione meowed loudly in agreement, wishing she could applaud Blaise.

"Shut up," Draco said turning to her.

"Don't blame the cat," Blaise laughed and Draco glared at him.

"The only things I found in those books were for potions to mend bones," he said exasperatedly.

"And what's wrong with that?" Blaise questioned.

"They all take three days to a week to brew," Draco answered, "and I don't want this little beast here that long, so I was looking for spells."

"I see," Blaise said with a smile. "A spell to get her out sooner?"

"That's what I said," Draco answered.

"So it's not because you want her all fixed as soon as possible?" Blaise said with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"What's that look for?" Draco moaned.

"You want to keep this cat don't you?" Blaise said frankly.

"What?" Draco scoffed as his face went pink.

"Awww," Blaise said sitting beside Hermione and petting her head, "Hear that kitty? Someone loves you."

Hermione was struck with fear. She couldn't be kept as a pet, especially not by Malfoy. It was starting to look like she was going to have to go through the mortification of transforming and confessing.

"Shut it Blaise," Draco mumbled, turning away to hide his face Hermione guessed.

"Fine," Blaise said pulling out his wand and aiming it at Hermione. He said a spell and moved his wand in a quick sequence, mending Hermione's leg in an instant. "There you go," he went on, "guess you'll be sending her back to Diagon Ally straight away then," he finished and Draco shrugged.

"She can stay the night at least," Draco said and Blaise gave him a knowing look.

"You sure?" he asked, "I could drop her there on the way home."

"No it's fine," Draco waved a hand of dismissal, "Besides, she could probably use something to eat and a good rest. She's still going to be sore for a while," he added, "and it's still raining," he continued like he was trying to convince himself of his own reasons.

"If you say so," Blaise shrugged before heading to the door. "Let me know how it goes," he said, leaving the room.

Draco sighed, running a hand through his hair before sitting beside her on the bed, and removing the cast with his wand. Hermione was so relieved to have her leg fixed, that she didn't even bother to be mad about Draco petting her.

"Happy?" he asked and she looked up at him, happily letting out a meow in reply. He looked stunned for a moment before shaking it off and abruptly standing from the bed.

"Now if I could figure out what the hell to feed you…" he muttered to himself before leaving the room again.

She was still starving, and she prayed that he wouldn't bring her anymore raw food. She stretched her sore leg. Just a few more hours and she'd be free.

She hoped.

Surprisingly, Malfoy seemed like a decent pet keeper. Too bad he wasn't this nice in real life or she might mistakenly think he was a good guy. Actually, if things went well, she decided that she would try and talk to Malfoy in human form to see what that was like. Not that she couldn't guess what that encounter would entail. Still, besides the fact that he'd broken her leg in the first place, he had done the valiant thing and tried to fix it. She knew a lot of wizards who wouldn't have bothered.

Draco returned with a bowl of something that smelled delicious.

"This had better be good enough for you," he said and she could see that he was trying to sound offended, but wasn't. He set the bowl down on the floor and when Hermione saw the fresh cooked salmon her stomach gurgled.

She hopped down to the floor and started to eat with no delay.

"You spoiled cat," Draco said in disbelief, "only cooked food, huh?" he asked her and she stopped just long enough to meow confirmation to him before getting back to her meal. He sat at the edge of his bed and watched her eat until she was full.

"Unbelievable that you're so small and can hold all that food," he said shaking his head and she sent what she hoped was a glare his way.

He stood up and headed to the bathroom where he conjured a cat litter box before pointing it out to her.

"You pee or poop on anything I own, and I'll un-mend that leg. You understand?" he said seriously and Hermione gulped. "Good," he smiled before removing his pants and starting the shower.

Hermione turned away running from the bathroom door, which he left open , and stayed near the bed. She couldn't jump that high, so she sat waiting for him.

After what seemed like forever, he emerged in a towel and Hermione made sure to respect his privacy as he dressed. Though boxers were not what she'd call being dressed, apparently they were pajamas to him.

Hermione was actually glad when he picked her up, hoping to be placed on the bed. Instead she was carried to the bathroom were the tub was partly filled.

Oh no…

She struggled and scratched, hissed and bit, but he wasn't deterred for a second.

"Cats really don't like water, huh," he said and gently set her in the warm bath. "I don't know where you've been and I'm going to have to change my sheets already, so get over it," he said calmly as he used his hand as a cup and poured water over her fur, avoiding her face and ears.

He lathered her body using something out of a small vial and she felt so violated as he washed her.

She put up a fight at first, trying to make his hands avoid key areas.

"You're just making it worse for yourself," he said sternly and eventually, realizing that he wasn't going to let her back into his room without a strict washing, she settled down, just hoping to get it over with as quickly as possible.

After the ordeal was over, he wrapped her in a towel before using a drying spell on her fur. He then replaced his bedding before setting her on the bed.

"Better?" he asked her with a smile.

For you…

She did her best to look as offended as her cat like features would allow, hoping he'd feel remorse, but instead he just smiled at her.

He stretched and yawned and Hermione noticed that it had a sort of irresistibility to it just like her cat one. Then he climbed in bed with her and she gave him space as he stretched out.

Actually, she thought, this would be the perfect time to sneak out of here. As soon as he passed out, she was going to make a run for it.

He picked her up suddenly, placing her on his broad chest and petting her gently, stopping every now and then to scratch behind her ear. She felt herself getting sleepy, and as the unintentional purring started up she didn't put a damper on it. And what the heck, it's not like he knew, or would ever know who she really was, so she let herself enjoy the comforting.

Before she knew it, she was sleeping again.

When she woke up again she was tucked close to Draco's side, his hand resting on her middle. There wasn't any morning sun coming through the window, but with the rain coming down outside she couldn't tell if it was still night time or just overcast. Either way, it was time for her to go. She snuck out of his grasp, easily enough and jumped down to the floor pretty gracefully.

She crept closer to the door and then transformed back into her human body. She quietly tugged at the door handle, but it wouldn't come open. She pulled out her wand a whispered 'Alohamora' and still nothing.

What kind of paranoid freak cemented his door shut at night like this? It was ridiculous. She tried a more advanced spell, and still nothing. She stomped her foot in frustration huffing a sigh and immediately regretted it as Draco stirred.

Hermione turned around as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

She tried to calm down and transform back, but she couldn't concentrate. Now she was freaking out even more, making it impossible. She just stood there frozen like a statue as he stared at her sleepily.

"What the hell…" he whispered, then frowned, squinting into the darkness.

Hermione couldn't believe this. What was she supposed to say? Sorry? Just as she decided to give up and explain everything, Draco yawned.

"What's wrong with me?" He mumbled, shaking his head before going back to sleep.

Hermione stood there quietly, stunned for a few minutes, waiting for her heart to calm down. Finally, when she could, she went over to bed sat down on it carefully, and transformed back into a cat. She'd bide her time until she could escape during the day.

Draco was up and clothed, cleaning up his desk, when Hermione woke up to an overcast day. Her leg was feeling perfect and she couldn't wait to be taken back to Diagon Ally.

She meowed, letting him know that she was awake and ready to go. Draco looked at her with an assessing stare and she could feel him searching for something in her. She meowed again, trying to convince him that there was nothing fishy going on, that she was just an animal, and it seemed to work. He sighed heavily before coming over to pet her.

"I had a pretty strange dream last night," he told her and she froze in place. Then she meowed again because he was looking at her expectantly. Then as if her meow was an inquiry, he spoke to her.

"About some girl from school that I haven't seen in ages," he answered, "pretty weird…" he said more to himself, then stood from the bed, picking up her two feeding bowls and leaving the room.

Hermione couldn't breath. She knew that he suspected something now. How could he not? And the way that he was talking to her just now…

Relax...

She didn't need to worry anyway. She would be set free soon. As soon as he got back, he'd take her to town and let her go.

"Remember what I said about using the bathroom cat," he told her as he set her bowl of water and a cooked piece of cut up chicken, down on the floor for her.

What? She asked and it came out as a questioning meow, as she jumped from the bed and circled his feet.

"I'll be back in a bit." he muttered petting her head, "It's still raining out so your not getting dropped off just yet." he added, retrieving his jacket from a closet and putting it on.

"Pretty glad to be off the streets huh," he said to her as he headed for the door.

No! I'm not glad at all!

She had to get him to take her.

"Meow! Meow…Meoow!" she yelled blocking his way and jumping at his legs.

He laughed, picking her up. "Don't want me to leave you?" he asked and Hermione meowed her joy at being understood.

He sighed looking around the room like he was thinking about it.

"I cant just carry you around," he told her and Hermione looked up at him turning her head to the side with what she hoped was a puppy dog cute look.

He seemed to be effected by the look, so she put the cherry on the cake by giving his hand a few licks with her sand paper tongue.

He sighed one more time and then set her down.

"Sorry, but I have to go," he said apologetically and practically ran from the room, like if he didn't get away from her, he'd change his mind and end up carrying around a cat all day.

Hermione screamed in anger.

I even licked his hand!

She fumed for the next half hour before remembering that she was home alone. She transformed back to human form and used the bathroom to freshen up before doing the smart thing and checking if the door was open.

She pulled the knob and almost jumped for joy when the door opened up.

She ran down the hall pausing at the stairs to check that there weren't any servants around. When she saw that the coast was clear she headed down to the first floor, amazed at the luxury. She hadn't really noticed it before on her way in.

She wasn't bothering to sight see as she spotted the front door. She made a dash for it, unlocked the thing, and ran outside into the over cast day light. It was sprinkling and she wasted no time apperating out of there.

As she landed inside of her house, she decided that she was never going to relive that day again.

Draco was finally done with his last fitting at Madam Malkin's. His special order robes for an upcoming pure blood wedding would, as always, be the best.

He tried not to pretend that he wasn't in a hurry to get back home and check on that stupid cat, but what was the use. He liked the damn thing and didn't want to set her free. And why should he have to? He'd have to keep an eye on her so she wouldn't get lost in the house, but aside from that, there shouldn't be a problem with her staying.

It's not like his parents were around to have a say.

Right. What was he arguing with himself about? Then, before he knew it, he was in a shop buying a little red collar, with a tiny gold bell.

He didn't want to lose her in the house.

Too bad she was already gone.

THE END…

Epilogue

It was a week later when Hermione finally worked up the courage to do what she'd promised herself she'd do.

"Hey Malfoy," she said in a small voice. She tried not to think about how obvious her 'accidental run in' was.

She'd spent time watching his routine, trying to work up the nerve to talk to him, and noticed that he was often in this café for lunch.

She was basically a stalker at this point.

She wanted to make it up to him for everything, by trying to be his friend if she could. Maybe he was lonely, or maybe he wasn't, but all together, she'd decided to see if he was, indeed, a good person. She was going to forget about the cat thing, but she wasn't going to forget his kindness.

He turned around looking up from his chair and she waited for him to tell her to bugger off.

"Oh," he said in surprise when he saw who was talking to him, "How have you been Granger?" he asked and Hermione stood there stupidly. She hadn't thought of what to say next, assuming he wasn't going to talk to her.

When he frowned at her, she shook herself awake and smiled awkwardly.

"Um, I was just passing through and…" she really hoped that she didn't sound too forward, "well, I saw you sitting here and I um," she couldn't get it out…

He look confused, so she forced herself to keep talking.

"I thought, 'hey haven't seen him in forever,' you know," her face was burning, "so I just thought I'd say hi."

He seemed shocked.

"So…" she raised a hand in greeting, "hi…"

He smiled and stood up, walking around his table and pulling out the chair.

"You want to have lunch with me?" he asked her, with a smile like he was trying not to laugh. Hermione smiled back, feeling a little better that he wasn't going to call her crazy and tell her to get out of his face.

"Um, yeah…" she said taking a seat, "thanks."

He sat down again and asked what he could get for her and she ordered a tea.

"I thought," she started, "that you wouldn't want to talk to me," she said awkwardly and he chuckled.

"I could say the same about you," he said, then shrugged, "I'm not holding any grudges Granger," he smiled and Hermione was glad that she'd done this.

"Me neither," she said, "So what are you up to?" she asked.

"Nothing really," he sighed, "You?"

Hermione smiled at him.

"Looking to buy a cat," she ventured and he smiled.

"I found a cat around here last week" he started, "I took her home," he said matter a fact.

"Yeah?" Hermione smiled, "how is she?"

"She ran away," he laughed.

"Oh, sorry," she said.

"She was really scrawny, so hope she didn't get mistaken for a rat, and carried off by an owl," he said shrugging and Hermione tried not to be annoyed with his uncaring attitude.

"You must miss her," she said sternly.

"Not really," he shrugged and Hermione tried to calm herself.

"So you didn't want to keep her?" she asked. Draco looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I'm just pissed that she ran away the day I bought her a pretty nice collar." he mumbled and Hermione smiled at that.

"See," she said, "you liked her."

Hermione felt triumphant but also a little sad.

"Why don't you just get another cat?" she asked, and he looked passed her, in thought.

"I don't want one," he answered simply, "Anyway, it was nice talking to you again, but I have to go," he said standing from the table and placing some money down. Hermione felt like she'd struck the wrong cord.

"Wait," she said standing up. He paused, looking at her, "would you um…" she was doing it again, "want to have lunch again…" she sighed and he laughed.

"Are you asking me out?" he clarified and Hermione blushed.

It wasn't what she meant, but she couldn't talk after his assumption so she just nodded.

"Yeah," she mumbled bowing her head.

He looked her up and down like he was appraising her before he answered.

"Sure," he smiled and Hermione frowned at his smug expression. Before she could take her offer back he spoke, "we can meet here tonight at eight and figure out what to eat then," he said before disappearing.

Hermione sighed. She was going to try and put up with him for a while.

THE END END…

Now has Fan Art! for this story on Deviant art. com

lifesadarkart (DOT) deviantart (DOT) com

Please review Did it SUCK?

My husband told me that an animagus story sounded stupid, but in the end, he liked it…

(Minus the FLUFF…)

So let me know what you think. I tried not to make it too cutesy, BUT it was impossible. So if I gave you cavities, I'm SUPER sorry. ^_^

This was my first attempt at a one shot and it was hard not to make this too long lol.

There's a sequel up called CATaclysm, for those who wanted it!

7/25/2011

Go read and review please.