The aftermath of the battle had been terrible. The whole school was emotionally drawn out, so badly so that Theodore Nott's trial, and his sentencing to Azkaban, barely raised an eyebrow. It was only Hermione and the efforts of the Chaos that kept Harry mentally healthy. Between the stress from that, and the effort required in their studies and later exams, it was almost too quickly time for the leaving feast. Hermione was a little surprised, but more than willing to help when they all wanted advice on how to study... even Ron. The redhead, more well-known for waiting till the last moment, even had all his work done ahead of the due date. Hermione was, of course, the top student in their year, with Harry managing to slip into second place, but Ron had managed to get into the top twenty, a feat that so many couldn't think would happen, the Weasley twins hadn't even bothered to set up a wager about it.
As they sat to eat, Professor Dumbledore rose. "Today, I have a most unexpected announcement to make. Would Ronald Weasley please stand?" As their red-haired friend stood, the felines and the other members of the Chaos glanced at each other. "Mr Weasley, I have here a letter from the Chief Unspeakable at the Department of Mysteries, a charming fellow who goes by the name of 'Corvus'. He asks me to let you know that your new spell has passed all their tests and a full working report will be forwarded to your home. The official title is the Perditus Charm, and you are receiving full credit for the discovery. You may sit down now, Mr Weasley." Indeed, Ron was so stunned by this announcement and its implications that his brothers had to assist him into his seat.
"To continue, I must announce that this year's House Cup again goes to Gryffindor. Well done. To those of other Houses, there's always next year. Remember to double-check your belongings tonight, and good luck on your way home." The old wizard was about to sit down when Professor Lupin cleared his throat. Dumbledore looked somewhat sheepish for a moment. "Oh yes, there are two more things. First, I regret that we must bid a sad farewell to Professor Lupin, who has been forced to step down as your Defence teacher by the Board of Governors. I believe the staff will miss him almost as much as the students will. However, he has received and accepted an offer as Seneschal to the Ancient and Noble House of Black, so he would seem to have fallen on his feet there. Finally, my last announcement concerns those who call themselves the Chaos of the Tigers. As of this very moment, I recognize your group as a fully sanctioned school club, and decree that your internal uniform is as much allowed attire as the Quidditch uniforms. To the more visible and recognizable members, our own Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, I extend the official gratitude of the school and Hogsmeade Village. Now that that's out of the way, Bon appetit!"
The kitty couple's observations the next morning as they rode the carriages and climbed onto the train were thought-provoking, to say the least. Ron had actually woken up early and helped Daphne with her trunk, not only keeping a Slytherin company, but giving her assistance and promising to write often. His initial payment for the Perditus Charm was more than enough for him to purchase a new owl, and while he asked his parents' advice on how to make the best use of the money, he did insist on new clothing.
As the felines searched the train for a good compartment, they found Susan and Neville sitting in one, and speaking quietly, in tones that even their vaunted hearing couldn't pick up as more than murmurs, which halted as the Bast'et entered and stowed their trunks. They didn't move away from each other though, getting closer if anything. By the time the rest of the Chaotics, bar the adults, had joined them, Hermione had managed to wheedle an admission from them.
"Yes, Hermione," Susan had finally declared, frustrated, just as Ginny and Luna had flared in, the blonde Ravenclaw having had to collect some of her 'missing' belongings (this fact irritated the Chaos no end). "Neville and I are going out together, now can you please be quiet about it? No further than the Chaos, at least, please?"
"How'd it start?" Daphne asked from the door as she and Ron entered, with her hair just the slightest bit out of place, definitely mussed but almost fully corrected. Not even a Legilimens would have gotten her to admit what had happened with Ron in the time they'd been alone.
"He was so sweet," Susan answered, having noticed the hair, but complying with the Slytherin's desire to not talk about it. "Always there in the background while I was helping Hannah. I can't imagine what she was going through in those minutes she'd been... out of her body. Her mum and dad came to get her the next morning, to have her checked out by St Mungo's best, and she flooed home this morning with the Headmaster's dispensation... When they left, it all just hit me. My best friend had been killed by dementors, worse than killed, and you two brought her back. I just couldn't process it and I was about to break, right then and there. Then suddenly he was holding me, all warm and caring and solid, telling me she was fine, and she'd stay fine if the Chaos could have anything to say about it. He let me cry on his shoulders, and that was it. I was gone, head over heels."
Turning to Neville she smiled. "He is not getting away." Neville's gulp at that point was a little theatrical, a touch overdone, but everyone laughed anyway. Hermione snuggled into Harry's side, and Susan into Neville's, for the rest of the ride, while everyone spoke about what was going to happen during the holidays. When Ron brought up the Quidditch World Cup that would be taking place that Summer, Harry scoffed a little.
"Tell your dad not to push about the tickets," he told his ginger friends, "Sirius told me that the House of Black has a box for these events, and since he adopted me, we're going to use it. If you want, I'll ask him if I can invite you all to join us." Ron's and Ginny's reactions were astounding. After a glance at each other, they proved they were related to Fred and George by dropping to their knees on the compartment floor and crying "We're not worthy!" over and over as they raised and lowered their arms like some kind of worshippers. Said brothers, passing by, inquired why their youngest siblings were doing this, and upon hearing the reason, joined them. While everyone was laughing at this, Harry wondered idly exactly what the twins' animagus forms would be.
Should we give thought to 'spreading the Chaos'? he mewled to his mate. Divining his thoughts was becoming second nature to her, and after a quick glance towards the twins, she nodded.
The rest of the journey passed as only time in good company can.
Before they entered the barrier to King's Cross Station from Platform 9¾ harry and Hermione double-checked their collars to ensure the Glamour were functioning. They'd gotten so used to their feline forms that they almost never bothered with the glamours at school. Each time they had, they were left wondering who that odd person in the mirror was. Sirius had been waiting for them with Remus, and the two adults were right behind the kitty couple as they stepped through the barrier to the muggle world.
The Doctors Granger spotted their daughter and her boyfriend, emerging from the crowd around the pillar that hid the gate to the magical platform. As she saw them, she dashed over to them and engulfed them in a hug that was only outdone by the ones she saved for Harry. As the young man joined them, the two men behind them were observed carefully. Introductions followed quickly, and explanations as to their presence.
"So, you'd like to come and see where Harry's been staying?" Samantha Granger asked Sirius. Learning that Harry'd been adopted by the Lord in front of her was a bit disconcerting, but she was determined to treat him no differently than any other because of it. After all, he still had to care for his teeth, just like anyone else, right?
"Only if it's not too much trouble of course," Sirius said smoothly. "I wouldn't want to trouble you overly. Besides, I believe we need to speak concerning their relationship, and the boundaries they've set. After all, as loving parents, your darling child's boyfriend must be a great issue for you to focus on, yes?"
As Hermione's parents focused their gaze on her, she lashed her tail in what was now her only visible sign of embarrassment. "Yes," said Michael, giving Harry a quick glare, even if he wasn't totally responsible for the problem. "Yes, it is."
Once they'd gotten to Hermione's home, and after an embarrassing interrogation that revealed to the Grangers the full extent of the kitty couple's intimacy, and the reasons for it, the three parents and Remus sent the two to Hermione's room while they discussed the full impact of this information.
"It's not that we don't trust you, kitten, or we wouldn't be sending the two of you off alone. It's that we have to understand and come to grips with that information." Michael Granger was an earnest man, and he was giving the boy who'd more or less chosen his little girl as being worth more to him than his very life a serious assessment. From the stories he'd heard of this year, Harry had venomous claws, impressive strength, incredible speed and unbelievable reflexes. Heck, the previous year had seen him slay, with Hermione's assistance, the deadliest of creatures the magical world had with the exception of something called a Nundu. And yet, he was scared of Michael Granger, a middle-aged dentist, ex-SAS but out of shape, using the word 'neuter' around him.
While the adults were discussing the developments in the kitty couple's interactions, the felines in question were lounging on the floor in her room, getting their Summer homework out of the way. Then they turned their minds to their Ancient Runes and Arithmancy project. As they'd managed a full nine symbols and meanings that year, including their purposes, effects and interactions, and which sounds in Lingua Felinarum they represented, they played with them a little. 'Harmony' to blend effects, 'Eternity' to make them last, 'Motion' to produce flight, then reversed and blended with 'Protect' to make a cushioning charm, 'Precision' for control and finally, 'Storm' to improve the speed of 'Motion'. Applying these to an old hobby horse that Hermione had almost forgotten about having, and attaching and binding a large number of broomstick twigs marked with 'Precision', left them with a broomstick they'd made themselves. Harry and Hermione glanced at each other, nodded and added a final touch. Together they transfigured the horse's head on the front to that of a black tiger. All that remained was binding a set of stirrups.
Raising their heads from their work, the two of them realized they were being watched by all four adults. Sirius in particular was staring at the broom they'd just finished. "How... these are.. and that goes..." He looked at the felines with unshed tears in his eyes. "Can I try it?"
It reminded them so much of the old Ron that Harry and Hermione collapsed laughing, even as Remus mockingly scolded the canine animagus. "We came up here to talk sternly to them, and you see a broom and that goes out the window."
Sirius grinned, then gave his friend a shining example of 'puppy-dog eyes'. "B-but Moooneee, it's a brand-new, never-before-seen, one-of-a-kind prototype brooomstick. I've just gotta have one," he whined, imitating a six-year-old wheedling for a present. Harry was certain Dudley would have thrown something at someone in that situation and yelled something that boiled down to "Gimme! Now!", and laughed harder because of it.
Part of the adults' discussion had indeed been about the sudden and physical progress of Harry and Hermione's relationship. The two teenagers were very responsible, but all it took was one mistake and they'd be looking at kittens way ahead of schedule.
Testing the new broomstick was a matter of visiting the Burrow for Harry to put it through its paces, which he did with determination to find its limits. The 'Black Tiger', using Ailurin runes, was incredibly swift, and handled very much like an extension of his own body. When Hermione tested it, she found herself enjoying flight for the first time. For her, the experience was much like Harry's, even though the broom was a bit faster and a lot more manoeuvrable than Harry's Firebolt. No-one else could coax as much from the broom. It was as if the broom knew they were aligned with the runes that enchanted it, and gave more for them than it would for another. The kitty couple made another broom, almost exactly like it, to see if the results were identical, and soon determined that they were. The new brooms could outperform a Firebolt... but only with a feline riding them. For anyone else, they were no better than a Cleansweep 5.
It was when they returned to the Grangers that they received the dreaded 'talk'. Knowing it was far too late for the whole 'this is how it's done, so don't do it' approach, the Doctors Granger and Sirius opted instead for a frank discussion around the table. Even as they spoke, the kitty couple were each becoming more and more aware of the other, making it hard to concentrate on what was being said. To allay everyone's fears, they made the decision easily. Putting it into practice would be tricky, though.
"Other than when the heat is really pressing me," Hermione informed the parents, "all we need to do to satisfy the urge is to kiss and snuggle. If Harry wasn't able to smell me, I don't think he'd have any problems, even on those three times a year. The downside is, if he wasn't there those three times when my inner cat is... insisting on action, I honestly think I'd go mad. Moony told you what we did to the cages?" As the adults nodded, Harry took over the discussion.
"Those cages are meant to hold magical creatures that are far stronger than we are. It's our claws and the venom in them that allows us to tear through them, and I firmly believe that even if we were to encounter a cage we couldn't break, our inner cats would use the Schroedinger Charm, so that puts containment right out the window." He spoke with a simple conviction. Hermione had silenced her room earlier that day, knowing she wouldn't be thinking straight tonight, or possibly the night after. Reluctantly, the adults saw the felines' point. She was taking the potion, but the central worry was their age... especially in the muggle world.
That night, the feline lovers chose to pass the time in their tiger forms, anxiously waiting for the heat to strike, which it failed to do for now. When Michael and Samantha came up to wake them for breakfast, they stared at the two black tigers in awe, it being the first time they had seen these forms. It was the following night before vague, heavily muffled sounds of two creatures striving to become one filtered through the silencing wards on the parents chose to overlook it, although Sirius did tease them about it at breakfast.
After that, the following month passed quickly, with shopping trips for clothes. Armed with a minor transfiguration spell to adjust the clothes around certain traits, such as their tails, Harry and Hermione relaxed and enjoyed themselves, with the emerald-eyed catboy even learning to swim.