The Sunrise of My Heart

Draco and I had been dating for about three weeks when I found Bombalurina. Or rather, when she found me. I had been outside, enjoying the snow, when I noticed something moving in the snow towards me. It was small, had russet/red fur, and looked swollen. When it got closer, I realized it -or rather she- was a cat, a very pregnant cat.

"Hello, you," I crooned to her, reaching out to pet her. She purred happily when I did, rubbing her face against my hand. Her body was freezing.

"Oh, you poor little thing. Let's get you inside and warmed up." I gently picked her up, wrapping her in my coat to block her from the wind. Once I was inside the Slytherin common room, I placed her by the fire, then went off in search of milk. I returned a few minutes later with a saucer of milk and my pockets full of sweets and snacks from the house elves who worked in the kitchens. They were nice and great and all, but all of this food was going to make me sick from eating it. Oh well, at least it would be good.

I set the saucer down in front of her, coaxing her to drink and get warm, then gently felt her stomach, trying to see if she was still pregnant or if she'd already had a litter. Thankfully, I could feel little kicks from her babies, so I didn't have to worry about finding tiny kittens lost in the snow.

"Where did that come from?" I looked over my shoulder to see Draco standing near the entrance, watching the cat.

"She came from outside. She was cold and wet, so I took her inside to warm her up. Isn't she pretty?"

He made a face. "I don't really like cats all that much." I felt my face fall, pouting up at him with big eyes. He rolled his eyes. "But yeah, as far as cats go, she's kind of pretty, I guess." I grinned at him, and he smiled back. It was small, but it reached his eyes, and I felt my heart glow a bit, seeing that for the moment at least, his cold distance was gone.

"I think I should keep her." He looked like he was about to protest, so I hurried on. "She's cold, and has no place to go, and the castle is warm, and we're allowed to have cats."

"Riley, she's a stray, she could have fleas, or some disease, and she might bite others."

"But she's pregnant, and what would happen to her kittens if they were born in the snow, what with the weather supposed to be getting worse and all? They would die, Draco."

He sighed, shaking his head. "So what are you going to name her?" He asked, defeated.

I grinned at him. "Bombalurina. From Cats the Musical. It's kind of my guilty pleasure." I smiled at him.

"Of course it is," he said, rolling his eyes again.

"Be nice, Drakie Poo," I smirked at him, knowing he hated that nickname.

"Don't call me that. It sounds like nickname for a two-year-old."

"Then be nice to me and Bombalurina."

"You're impossible," he muttered, but he was giving me a fond look.

♪♫♪♫

Three days later, I knew Bombalurina was going to have babies any day, so I cast a small spell on her. When she went into labor, it would alert me, and I could come to her. I wanted to be there when she had her kittens, so I took precautions to make sure I could.

"Riley, stop twitching. You look epileptic," Draco said to me in Transfiguration. I kept on checking my wand, waiting to see if it would light up. The spell I had done would make my wand tip light up when she went into labor, changing colors every few seconds.

"I just want to be sure I don't miss the birth," I answered, but still I put my wand away. We were done with our work, so we were just sitting there and talking softly to each other.

"You're not going to miss it just from not checking your wand tip every two seconds."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just anxious because I'm pretty certain it's going to happen today. I made her a nest in case it does, but I still want to be there. She's young, and I think this is her first birth, and I don't want her to go through it alone."

"You care way too much about that cat," he muttered.

"It's not my fault she's an awesome cat." He opened his mouth to say something else, but at that moment, class ended, so we gathered our things and started walking away. "Besides, you like her more than you're willing to admit. I saw you petting her this morning, letting her sit in your lap."

"Riley, your pocket," said suddenly.

I stared at him blankly. "Okay, you've said some pretty weird things since I've known you, but that really topped the chart."

"No, your pocket is flashing colors. Your wand, Riley!"

"Oh! Oh my gosh, she's having her kittens! I have to go to her!" I tried to push my way through the crowd, but I couldn't move fast enough because of all the people. Draco grabbed my hand and dragged me behind him, shoving people out of his way. At first, I thought it was because he actually cared about the cat a bit, but then I realized it was because he cared about me so much, and Bombalurina meant a lot to me. I smiled, squeezing his hand gently.

Finally, we made it to the common room, and I went into the girl's dormitory to find Bombalurina sitting in her little nest and giving birth. I went to her side, hoping she wouldn't hiss at me and make me leave. All she did was glance up at me for a moment before looking back down at her tail, where a small kitten was starting to emerge. It was both gross and interesting to see. After a few minutes of her pushing, a small kitten laid by her side. Ten minutes later, another kitten accompanied it.
Both of the kittens were small and dark, although it looked like one of them looked like it had lighter markings.

"Look, Draco, look how cute they are! They're so tiny and adorable!" I was pleased to see that Bombalurina was already taking care of them like a proper mother.

"Yeah, they're kind of cute, but that was by far the most disgusting thing I've ever seen." I noticed he was standing in the doorway, not getting too close to the kittens.

"Come on, let's leave her alone with her new babies." I grabbed his hand and led him back into the common room. "Should we go get something to eat from the Great Hall?"

"Hang on, I'll be right back. Stay here." He left without another word, leaving me there to wonder what he was doing. When he returned a few minutes later, he had lots food and drinks. "Let's just stay here and eat alone." And so we had our little inside picnic, enjoying the warm fire and each others company.