Shadow Claw: The Life Story - The First Chapter

Ch. 2 - Talking

The next morning, when my sleepy little mind decided to wake up, I was met with a wrinkled face, a long pointed nose and a set of glowering eyes. I yelped in fright and scrabbled back, my ears flattened back to my small head. I was settled on the sofa, no longer perched comfortably on Sirius' lap, but that was the least of my worries.

"Pesky animals," The house elf muttered, "getting hair all over furniture."

He raised a small dust-pan and brush and prepared to flick me off my make-do bed, but I heard Sirius shout from behind me.

"Kreacher! Leave poor Shadow alone!" His voice was hard and stone cold. It made me shudder as I craned my neck to peer up at him. His eyes had softened, and he reached out a gentle hand to stroke my back. I purred in satisfaction, eyeing Kreacher suspiciously.

"Yes, master. The house elf live to serve." The old elf gave a small, respectful bow of his head then made off somewhere upstairs. I had never been upstairs, and I was curious as to what lay beyond the darkened, wooden stairs. Sirius saw my longing expression and picked me up gently, "You mustn't go upstairs without me, okay?" He turned me around to face him, and I gave a little mew of acceptance.

"Come on, I think you need a bath." He gave a small sniff of my fur, and blinked a few times. I whimpered, wriggling in his grasp. I wasn't really sure what a bath was, but I had a nasty feeling it was to do with water. I hated water - still do.

"Now, now. Be good, and I'll give you some bubbles." Sirius smiled, kissing my head and pressing me against his flat, slightly muscled chest. Bubbles? I had no idea what bubbles were either, but they sounded fun - they truly were.

As Sirius and I ascended the stairs, he mumbled quietly under his breath now and again. I could only make out words like: "Vold... Lily... James... Potter... dead... not a good time..."

At that point, I paid no attention to it. I was only a kitten and had better things to concern myself with, like finding out what bubbles were.

* * *

Sirius ran a bath and dolloped some sticky mixture into it. Was that bubbles? He placed his hand in the shallow water and shook it, disturbing the smooth surface. White mounds of bubbling circles rose from the water, and a small mew escaped my muzzle once more.

I was lifted into the bubbles and tail-deep water, and I instantly took to swimming around happily. My paws could touch the bottom, but I had to keep my head suspended in the air as to not allow any water to touch my chin.

Sirius knelt down beside the bath I was in, and squeezed a little bit of white frothy stuff on my pelt. I gazed up at him with curious, bright eyes and was rewarded with a smile and a nice little rub. My dark fur had turned a white colour from the shampoo that Sirius had rubbed in, until I shook my body in the water, washing it all off. Little droplets of water flew into the air and landed on his face. I mewed at him, splashing my tail. Okay, so maybe water wasn't that bad.

I stuck my head in a pile of bubbles and peered out at the man, only my eyes and nose showing. My whole body was covered in varying sizes of bubbling bubbles. Sirius laughed, taking a picture with a Polaroid camera. I squeaked, rolling in the water. The room smelled like lavender, including me.

At last, Sirius lifted me out the bath and wrapped me in a warm towel that had been hanging on the radiator. It was a pale-grey colour with a small red chinese dragon on the top right corner.

Sirius carried me downstairs and into the kitchen, where he placed me on the island like he had done yesterday, but instead of getting out the milk, he peered down at me with a small smile.

I mewed in distress, I was very hungry and he wasn't feeding me - I was a bit of a spoiled brat.

"I know you're hungry, but I will give your milk, only if you can say my name. Come on, I know Claws can speak." He encouraged. I flicked my ears and opened my muzzle to try and speak.

"Seeris." I whined, batting my now-dry paws in the air.

He laughed softly, "Seer-ee-us." He tried. I nodded hurriedly, desperate to get it right.

"Seereeus." I mewed, looking up at him with unblinking eyes, then speaking once more: "Sirius." I wiggled in happiness as I said it, mewing proudly. I was learning to speak! It wouldn't be long now before I could form whole sentences, then I would grow bigger, grow my wings and be much better at everything - I really had my whole life planned out.

"Well done baby Shadow! You've earned your milk." Sirius smiled, kissing my little head and preparing my milk. This time, he heated it and fed it to me slowly. I suckled at the bottle, proud at my days work, though I wondered if my parents would have brought me up in a different manner. It made me sad to think they didn't want me.

* * *

Sirius stoked the fire, and settled me on his lap once again, ready to end the day. I was sure it was still light outside, but I was too tired to care. Being a kitten does have its downsides sometimes - like being sleepy most of the time.

"Go to sleep, baby Shadow. You have a big day tomorrow." He murmured gently, stroking me head-to-back with two fingers. I wasn't quite sure what Sirius was talking about, but I was too caught up in sleep and pride to care.