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The first time Sebastian saw the black cat, it had been in the potions classroom.
It was laying on top of the counter, next to the stove Sebastian was using. Amber eyes cracked ever so slightly open when Sebastian approached the potion station with an outstretched hand.
The black fur felt soft underneath his fingertips. Its coat was shiny and well kept. It had white socks on every foot except its back left paw. The one on the front right was up high compared to the others too. Soft, pink toe beans greeted Sebastian when the cat turned on its back. Sebastian rubbed underneath its chin, the cat purring appreciatively.
"Well, aren't you adorable? Are you professor Sharp's cat?" He said to the cat. The cat just purred in response, eyes closing. Sebastian chuckled and checked in with his potion. It was a batch of wiggenweld potions he made for the new fifth year, at his new friend's request. The batch was finished, glowing a neon green in the cauldron. Perfect. He started filling up the glass flasks with the liquid. Quickly, he realised he didn't have enough flasks.
The cat, who had been staring at the student for a while now, meowed. Sebastian booped its nose. "I'm going to pick up some more flasks. Can you keep an eye on my cauldron, little friend?" He asked. Something sparkled inside the honey coloured eyes. It meowed again and started licking its paw. Sebastian took it as a yes.
That was his mistake. The second he had his back turned to the cat, he heard the sound of glass breaking.
Sebastian quickly turned around to see if the cat was okay. The cat was very much alright. In fact, it was calmly sitting on the counter, looking down at the broken potion on the ground. It noticed Sebastian was looking. Its paw moved towards the next potion, softly pushing the flask to the edge of the counter. "Don't you dare do it," Sebastian whispered, loud enough for the cat to hear.
The mischievous eyes were locked with Sebastian's as the cat pushed the other potion off the desk too. A high pitched squeal left Sebastian's mouth as he rushed to the potion station. The cat jumped off and ran out of the classroom. "No, don't you dare run off you little bastard!" Sebastian exclaimed as he kneeled next to the puddle on the floor.
"Mister Sallow!" The door to Sharp's office swung open with quite a lot of force. It slammed against the stone next to it with a loud bang. The ex-auror took a second to assess the situation in front of him. Sebastian still sat on his knees next to the puddle, though fear was visible on his face. "Mister Sallow. Would you mind explaining to me what this is all about?" Sharp shot a piercing glare Sebastian's way.
"Sir, your cat - it threw my potion on the floor." Sebastian tried to explain.
Sharpe frowned at this. "Don't be ridiculous, Mister Sallow. I don't have a cat." He stated firmly. "Now, are you going to clean that up?"
*
The second time was while Sebastian was in the library. For once he was not sneaking in the restricted section. He was sitting at a table with his nose buried in his astronomy book. He felt how something warm jumped onto his lap. The Slytherin looked down to see the cat (who he had named Bastard since the potion incident) settle on his lap. It looked at Sebastian with a cocky look in its eyes.
The intensity of Bastard's stare was like a challenge. Sebastian couldn't figure out what it wanted or what it was going to do. Regrettably, he took too long as the black cat climbed onto the table and laid down on top of his homework.
Sebastian groaned.
"Please leave. I need to finish 20 inches on the discovery of Jupiter," he asked, trying to stay polite even though he had no reason to be. It was an animal, after all.
"Meow." The cat stated, factually. It got up and knocked his book off the table when it jumped off. It shot Sebastian a glare and Sebastian felt guilty for sending the cat away. Then, Bastard disappeared around the corner.
Sebastian wondered whose cat it was so he could tell them how rude Bastard was. With the amount of cats that had free reign to go wherever they pleased inside of the school, Sebastian doubted he’d ever find them. He groaned and bent over to pick up his book and saw that the paper had folded and one of the pages was torn at the top.
“Hey, Sebastian! I didn’t know you were studying here as well!” His new friend walked up to him and put his books down on the opposite side of the table. Then, he sat down with a heart warming smile on his face. Sebastian waved a little and put the book down on the table again.
“Hello there. I was trying to work on my paper for astronomy, but someone’s cat decided against that. Did you see it leave?” Sebastian asked. His friend frowned at the question.
“Cat? Sebastian, what are you talking about? I didn’t see anything,” He looked very worried at Sebastian. The latter was too stunned to speak. His friend took Sebastian’s hand. “Maybe you’re overworked. You should take a break! Let’s go to the Three Broomsticks to unwind a little.”
*
The third time, it was in the Slytherin common room.
Bastard was laying next to Ominis on the couch, purring away. Ominis was reading a book and petting the cat at the same time, sitting close to the fire. Sebastian narrowed his eyes when he walked in and saw the scene in front of him.
“Ominis. What is that cat doing next to you?” He asked, sitting down on the other couch.
Ominis didn’t move to answer, fingers still going over the page. “He’s a cat, Sebastian. He doesn’t do much, besides sleeping the day away.” He said. The cat cracked open an eye to look at Sebastian, almost as if it heard and understood the conversation between the friends.
“Wait. Bastard is a male cat?” Sebastian blurted out the question using the nickname he’d given the cat. Ominous sighed and closed his book. He leaned over to place the object down on the table. The cat took this as a sign to climb onto his lap and make himself comfortable.
“You named him Bastard?”
“Yeah, the little shit has only ever thrown my items onto the floor. Including potions in the classroom, which wasn’t fun to explain to Sharp.”
Ominis chuckled at his friend. Sebastian wished he was the cat, he wanted to sleep on Ominis' lap, too. He ignored that thought and opted to simply glare daggers into the soft asshole currently purring at the way Ominis scratched behind his ears. Again, the cat appeared to look at him with a ton of cockiness in his amber eyes.
The battle for Ominis' attention was on.
*
The weeks after, Bastard started appearing more and more around Sebastian. The cat made Sebastian's life a hell in a way the wizard didn't think a cat was able to. Constantly breaking stuff, laying on top of items Sebastian needed to use and mostly just sticking to Ominis' side.
Sebastian couldn't believe it either, but he was jealous of a cat.
Then there was his friend. The prodigy had been there to listen to his complaints about the animal. They were very kind and considerate of Sebastian, who'd only been complaining lately. Even now, in the dorm.
"I don't understand it, really. What does that thing have that I don't?" He was laying on his back, head hanging over the edge as he burned a hole into Ominis' bed with his eyes. They'd been hanging out for a while now, on their rainy Saturday afternoon.
His handsome friend - who was practising some charms on his own bed - shrugged. "Whiskers? A tail? We could be here for a while if I need to list every single thing the cat has that you don't." He commented as he made an apple float in the air.
Sebastian groaned in frustration.
"Sebastian, calm down. You're jealous of a cat. Just confess your undying love to Ominis already, then you can be scratched behind your ears and be told you're a good boy too." The fifth year looked away from the floating apple, turning his head to look at Sebastian. Sebastian, meanwhile, flushed a deep scarlet.
"I don't know what you're talking about. And it sounds like you're thinking of a dog, not a cat."
"My point still stands. I really don't mind hearing you out, but it's painful to watch how much you're in love with Ominis," his friend paused to pluck the apple out of the air. Sebastian watched as he took a bite out of the apple and he felt something familiar stir in his stomach. The same feeling he got when he looked at Ominis. He filed the thought away in the furthest dusty cabinet in his brain. "Watching you deny your feelings is way more painful than the cruciatus curse. And I would know, since you cast it on me."
Sebastian groaned. "I told you I was sorry."
"I know, it was a joke. I like watching you squirm. Makes you look prettier." He replied. He got up and tossed the remains of his apple in the bin. "Anyway. I'm heading out, you're being boring. See you later!"
Sebastian watched his friend leave. A soft blush was present on his face. Did he just call Sebastian pretty? Purely out of instinct, Sebastian got up to chase them and ask about it. When he left the dorm room however, he was greeted by an empty hallway.
*
Truthfully. He'd only put his wand onto the floor next to him to tie his shoelaces again when something soft and dark rushed past him. Sebastian had looked up to see the cocky fucker peak just around the corner, his wand in Bastard's little mouth.
"Give it back." He commanded the cat. Bastard looked up at Sebastian, eyes yet again filled with mischief. The Slytherin was certain the cat understood him, especially since he was always challenging the human. Sebastian got back up and walked over.
Of course, Bastard had other plans and ran away. Sebastian cursed and ran after the cat. They ran through the corridors of Hogwarts, Sebastian focused on the white tip of Bastard's tail. If he was able to pay any attention, he'd have noticed the hallways were all abandoned.
Sebastian crashed into someone after coming around a corner. He was barely able to save himself and the person, who happened to be none other than his best friend. Holding Ominis tightly, he checked where Bastard went. He was sitting on a bench, looking at the two students with an amused look in his eyes. "Sorry Ominis," Sebastian said, eyes not leaving the amber eyes. "I was chasing Bastard, he took my wand."
Ominis appeared to be amused. "Oh, really now? A cat took your wand?" Sebastian wanted to punch and/or kiss the smugness off of Ominis’ beautiful face. Ominis had no reason to be smug either, it was not like he made the cat…
“Did you make the cat bother me?” The accusation came out a bit harsher than he had meant to. He was just so sick of the animal bothering him so much. And he wanted answers, too.
His best friend started laughing out loud. He didn’t say anything, just turned around and tried to find the cat with his wand. He eventually did and kneeled down in front of Bastard. Ominis took the wand from the jaws of the monster. “Thank you,” he said. He leaned down to kiss the top of Bastard’s hair. The cat purred and rubbed his head against Ominis’ cheek.
Sebastian’s wand was placed into his hand. Sebastian quietly thanked his friend, glad he didn’t have to get close to Bastard himself. “You owe me,” Ominis turned back to Sebastian with a grin on his face.
“Yeah yeah. Just tell me when I can do something for you,” Sebastian replied, rolling his eyes with a smile. He thought Ominis was joking. Ominis stepped closer to Sebastian.
“I know something,” Ominis stated, something indescribable on his face. Sebastian had never seen this expression on his friend’s face. It was a mix of determination and something else. It made Sebastian feel equal parts scared and attracted to his friend. Ominis took a step closer towards Sebastian, now standing in Sebastian’s personal space.
Was this still a joke? What was Ominis doing? Blood rushed to his face, turning him a nice scarlet red. He could smell Ominis now, it did things to Sebastian. Did it suddenly get hotter? “W-What do you propose?” He stuttered. He stuttered . Anne would probably laugh her ass off if Sebastian ever told her this.
Sebastian’s brain short-circuited when he felt Ominis’ lips on his own. Out of reflex more than anything, he took a step back; the kiss had been way too intense for Sebastian’s unprepared mind. He took the time to stare at his best friend, mouth wide open. Ominis now looked a bit insecure, toying with the sleeves of his robes a bit.
“Are you… Mocking me?” Sebastian asked, softly. Ominis’ eyes widened at the question, clearly confused.
“Sebastian. I’d never mock you with something like this. I’ve wanted this, I’ve wanted you for the longest time now,” Ominis confessed, making Sebastian feel dizzy with just his words. “I was too stupid to see you wanted me, too. Until he pointed it out to me.”
Sebastian folded his arms across his chest. “Explain. Now.” He gave his friend a stern look. “This doesn’t mean no, by the way. I just want to know who he is.”
His best friend smiled a little. “It’s our friend. He… Put things in perspective for me. How I feel about you, for example. He said it was obvious you were interested in me as well. I started noticing he was right, so I decided to take the leap with both of you.” Ominis’ explanation made sense. Sebastian decided he disliked that their friend read Ominis better than he himself did. Ominis had always been hard to read, Sebastian only started being able to read him better last year. And their friend knew him for less than a year and figured him out pretty quickly.
Sebastian blinked. “Wait. Both of you?” he asked.
He saw how Bastard jumped off the stone bench behind Ominis. Then, suddenly, their friend was standing behind Ominis, stretching out his limbs. Sebastian let out a high pitched squeal and jumped. Their friend chuckled softly and wrapped his arms around Ominis.
“He means you and me. Because, well, I like you both,” His soothing voice answered Sebastian’s question instead of Ominis. “Sorry, Seb. I haven’t been entirely honest to you. I’m an Animagus.”
Sebastian pointed at the boy. “You’re the one who keeps messing with me! I knew you understood the things we were saying!” He loudly exclaimed. He tried to ignore the feeling in his stomach at the sight of his friends standing in front of him like this. “How long have you known, Ominis?”
The memory of seeing Ominis and Bastard (in cat form) relaxing on the couch in the common room came to mind. It kind of pissed Sebastian off, if he was being honest. Ominis, ever perceptive of his friend’s behaviour, spoke up. “I’ve known for a few days. When he confessed his feelings for both of us to me. We were devising a plan to confess to you, though I didn’t know he was going to do it out of nowhere like this.”
Bastard let go of Ominis and moved to stand next to him. He reached for Sebastian’s hand and squeezed it tight. “I just couldn’t wait any longer. I want you two to be mine,” he stated, pretty eyes darting between his two friends. Sebastian’s blush returned to his face. He let himself be pulled closer by Bastard, his two friends now in his personal space. He watched as Bastard moved behind Ominis again and whispered something in Ominis’ ear, then kissed his cheek. Ominis’ cheeks turned a dusty pink as he blushed. It made Sebastian’s stomach flip.
A hand cupped Sebastian’s jaw. It slid up and behind his head, fingers weaving through his brown hair. It was Bastard (he really wasn’t going to let go of this nickname), who looked at him with the mischievous eyes Sebastian had come to know from his cat form. Honestly, how he didn’t put two and two together and figured it out quickly was beyond him. He didn’t have time to think as he saw Ominis lean in again.
This time, Sebastian was prepared for the kiss. Ominis’ lips were soft and gentle for no reason, but they were. They went beyond Sebastian's wildest dreams and suddenly it felt all too real. He closed his eyes and wrapped an arm around Ominis as they kissed. He felt another set of lips below his ear; they were a bit rougher, more chapped but pleasant nonetheless.
Eventually, Ominis pulled back for air. His lips were red and swollen and he looked soft. His guard was fully down now. It warmed Sebastian’s heart. Then, Bastard kissed him, but only briefly. He smirked and appeared to be satisfied with himself.
Sebastian sighed. “Fine. If Bastard stops throwing my stuff off surfaces, I’ll be yours.”
The Animagus laughed. “Aw, you’re really going to keep using that nickname for me? And we only just got together, sweetcheeks.”
Sebastian cringed at that nickname. “Shut up, before I change my mind.”
Again, Bastard laughed and Ominis chuckled too. Sebastian rolled his eyes and rested his head on Ominis' shoulder, blowing air into Bastard's neck. It was the happiest he had felt in a few years and silently, he really didn't mind his new lover's prankis if it ended up like this.