Writing on the Tummy?

Disclaimer in first chapter.

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Dawn was draped around Draco's neck yet again, it was officially her favorite spot to relax. The easy access to his ear - for purring or swiping purposes - was a definite bonus.

Another perk was not having to walk everywhere though the house. As far as she was concerned, the Draco-Express was hands-down the best way to travel. Currently their destination was the Green Tea Room, as opposed to the Blue, Red, or Yellow Tea Rooms.

Narcissa seriously needs to get a new decorator, or maybe grow an imagination! Not that the other tea rooms were actually used for, well, drinking tea. The names, Dawn had come to realize, were definite misnomers. The Blue Tea Room was really more of an observatory, it housed a rather marvelous telescope that she would've been itching to try out. That is, if she still had opposable thumbs.

The Red Tea Room had large western-facing windows, and numerous shelves absolutely full of more books than Dawn had ever seen in one place… barring the Malfoy Library of course. The former-Key was convinced that their Library was the sole reason behind the deforestation of the Amazon Forest. It was obscene... and again she was wishing for opposable thumbs!

She had not yet had the opportunity to explore the wonders of the Yellow Tea Room, she preferred to stick by Draco. He was probably more entertaining than anything else this mansion had to offer (barring the occasional appearance of a House Elf to harrass), and besides: going too far away from him made her… itchy. It was uncomfortable and caused a sense of wrongness to grow within her for each step beyond a certain distance.

All things considered it was much easier to do what she was doing now: let him carry her around. Draco didn't seem to mind, all grumbling aside. He sort of reminded her of a male Cordelia: all bark and a rather sharp-toothed bite if you got on their bad side. Not that she'd had the opportunity or the inclination to get on her Wizard's bad side. She was comfortable assuming until she had the opportunity to observe him proving her right.

Draco paused outside the door to the Green Tea Room and straightened clothing that might have wrinkled or become dusty from too many hours in the library. Dawn nipped his ear gently when he fixed his collar, she was comfortable!

With a muttered: "Damn Kneazle," he opened the door and strode through stopping short at the sight of the two rather unhappy occupants of the room.

"Where the hell have you been? Pansy's been in a tizzy waiting for you," drawled the boy sprawled lazily in Draco's favorite chair.

"Yes, do tell us, Drakie-Poo," came a sharper, feminine voice from off to Draco's right, "Why you haven't Flooed OR written OR made ANY attempt to contact EITHER of us!"

With flourish, the blonde Slytherin sank into his second-favorite chair. "I have not Flooed OR written OR made ANY attempt to contact EITHER of you… because of her," he jerked his thumb towards Regina and was rewarded with a pointedly sharp nip.

"Her? Who is 'her?'" The owner of the sharp voice stepped forward, and Dawn got her first good look at her. She had long almost-black hair framing large dark eyes and a face that was faintly pinched, as if from perpetual worry or disdain. She glowed with a faint blue color similar to an autumn sky and Dawn relaxed a little: she was trustworthy.

"Yes, Drake, do elaborate, not all of us have your talent for speaking in 'vague,'" the boy leaned forward to inspect Dawn with clear amber eyes. His gaze flicked from Draco's smug smile to the feline draped across him and his eyes widened in surprised realization, "A true Familiar? You lucky bastard."

Pretty, Dawn's human side squealed. She climbed down her Wizard's arm and leapt to his friend's chair, perching on the back so as to inspect him more easily. Long dark hair hung down curling messily and framing a strong face with classic Mediterranean good looks. If she'd still been human… major crushage. Definitely.

The boy held out a hand to her, to let her sniff him she presumed. The former-Key restrained the impulse to roll her eyes, it didn't translate well in this feline body. His aura was a blue more clear and pure even than the girl's, she leapt down into his lap and butted his chin with her head, Pet me!

"Yes Blaise, a true Familiar, it WAS a bit of a shock." The blonde teenager smiled at the naked envy on Pansy's face, "You two are the first to find out." He frowned, "I've been doing a lot of research on Familiars lately, trying to find out what's… normal. You two wouldn't happen to know anything, would you?"

Blaise stroked Dawn from nose to tail and she purred furiously. Gently he coaxed her to lie down in his lap, she did so without a qualm. She rolled to her side for a belly-rub, not noticing the frown that flitted over the handsome boy's face.

"Draco? Come look at this, this is definitely strange…"

The other boy came to stand beside his friend's chair, "What is it Blaise?"

"These markings, they don't look normal, aren't Kneazles usually striped all over?" The two boys inspected Regina's stomach with frowns on their faces, soon Pansy joined them as well, stroking the feline's soft brown fur as they contemplated the mystery.

There on Regina's belly, just above her hind legs, were two mirror-image diagonal slashes of pure white fur. Sharply in contrast to the rest of her, Draco wondered how he could have ignored them. Each was about three inches long, thin, and strange… definitely strange.

"If you didn't notice these," Pansy gestured to indicate the stripes, "Why did you start looking for information on Familiars?"

Draco shot her a faintly condescending look, "Well aside from wanting to know more about Familiars in general…" He trailed off frowning, and gestured for Pansy to take a seat as he sank back down into his own chair. "A few nights ago, I started dreaming about the night Lucius made me pledge."

Both of his friends winced in sympathy, when he came back from that Winter Holiday his temper had been shorter than ever, causing some of the younger Slytherins to dub him the 'Dragon.'

"Right when it started getting to get to the really interesting bit, Regina appeared in my dream and woke me up."

Blaise frowned, "D'you mean she woke you up and then you dreamed about her, or - "

"She was in my dream, she bit my ankle to wake me up," the blonde rubbed at the offending appendage in pained remembrance.

"That is strange. And you can't find anything useful on Familiars in your library?"

"No," Draco smiled, "It's the one bit of magic my father couldn't find a use for."

Pansy frowned, "Odd, that. You'd think that he'd want to know everything about Familiars, they're incorruptibly loyal to their bonded."

"Yes, but the thought of relying on an animal?" Draco smirked, "That's not dignified enough for him, he won't take the chance that his Familiar would be a rat or something."

"More likely a flobberworm," Pansy muttered, causing the two boys to shoot her appreciative grins.

"Well," Blaise said, sitting back and giving Dawn's fur one last rub, "That tells us why you haven't Flooed, but you could've scribbled off a short message in between study breaks, couldn't you?"

Dawn meowed her thoughts on THAT idea, inspiring a chuckle from Pansy at the Kneazle's obviously disgusted tone.

"It seems she likes your obsessive habits about as much as we do," Pansy giggled, the smile and laughter transforming her features into something truly pretty.

"What is the poor things name, anyways?"

Draco shot Blaise a dark look, "Her name's Regina, and why is she a 'poor thing?'"

Amber eyes innocent, the teen inquired, "Why Draco, doesn't she have to put up with you?"

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