I'm not a kitten... Okay, I'm Kitten

Chapter 5

Possible TW for child abuse (not super graphic, but its clearly there).

Boy trudged to the Great Hall as soon as the doors opened, like every morning, at seven am. He was only beaten by professors Sprout and Flitwick. The Hall was otherwise empty. He didn't care. He just wanted to stay awake. The bone-deep ache was uncomfortable, but only made his need to lie down all the more persistent. Sunday's were supposed to be lazy.

"Mr. Potter."

Boy jumped, spilling his tea. "Sorry, Professor Flitwick," he said, vanishing the mess. "How are you this morning?"

"A sight better than yourself, I'd wager." He winked. "I thought I would let you know that the Headmaster doesn't join us for breakfast on Sundays."

It took Boy a second to figure out what the man was saying. His eyes widened. "Thank you for letting me know, sir."

The professor wished him a good day and went back to the staff table.

Boy's new friends took forever to show up. It was a little after eight when he finally saw them come in.

Now that there were more people about, Boy easily slipped over to the Ravenclaw table. He quickly explained what the charms professor said, and they gave him hugs and ruffled hair for his troubles.

Penny eyed him up. "You look awful."

"Gee, thanks. It's lovely to see you too." He snapped, then sighed. "Sorry."

"What time did you finally get to sleep?" Amelia asked, concern lacing her tone.

"I'll let you know." He deadpanned, tugging the teapot closer.

"Poor thing," Olive said, tugging him close to cuddle. "You just sit here and snuggle up with me till you have to get up."

"M'kay," he yawned cutely. "But I'm not a teddy."

There were a few giggles.

"Nope," Olive confirmed, running her fingers through his hair. "You're a little kitten."

Boy pouted, but made no move to escape her cuddles. "'M not a kitten."

Olive began scratching his scalp gently and Boy turned to goo.

"Oh," Amelia said seriously. "Definitely not a little kitten. Only big, ferocious beasts act like that with head scratchies."

"Yup." Penny agreed, just as teasing. "That's him alright! Big scary panther. Hands down. I'm terrified just being near him."

Boy stuck his tongue out at them.

"Even panthers start out as kittens." Olive pointed out, never slowing her ministrations. "Cute, fluffy little kittens."

Sighing, Boy rolled his eyes. Penny alone was bad enough with all of the cutseyness, but all of them together? He sighed again.

"How'd you get so good at this, Buh-Harry?" Amelia asked, flipping absently through a copy of Witch Weekly.

Boy tightened the twist he was working on before answering. "I used to keep my hair long and I liked playing with it. It was really long, but it was cut for school. I miss it."

"How long was it?" She asked. "I can't quite picture it."

He tapped his knee, as he held a few pins in his teeth.

"It was not down to your knees!" She gasped in disbelief.

"Mmhmm," he hummed, not wanting to accidentally drop the pins.

For the next half hour, Boy continued to twist and pin Amelia's hair before moving on to her makeup. That, he was obviously less familiar with, but some of the books in Sir and Ma'am's library had pictures of lots of different kinds of people from all sorts of cultures. He had been fascinated by differences based on their nationalities.