#and yes got back to the house saw the notice saying Smiler had gotten their laptop back

[coolveraverto]

Fur, Feathers, and Fins (Chap 1)

Chapter 1: Why would some Quidditch extraordinaire want to work in a pet store? I seriously have no answer. But I’m determined to find out.

HPFT

Everyone else was rubbish. They were either too young and made butt-crack jokes, too old to keep up with the pace - or they simply just didn’t have it. I swear on Dumbledore’s beard - there just wasn’t anyone else qualified for the job. Honest.

When James Potter II walked into my father’s pet shop… well, I was quite surprised.

One: His Uncle owned the famous WWW joke shop in Hogsmeade so why the hell did he come in here looking for a job? Surely he could get a job at the family business. Or anywhere really; He was a Potter (surname props).

Two: I hadn’t seen him since our Hogwarts days. Except for that time over a year ago when I saw him in London shopping with a pretty blonde - not like he saw me. I think.

And Three: I knew him as the snarky and determined Gryffindor Quidditch star. Everyone at school always said he could be tough-as-nails on the Quidditch pitch (he made my best friend play with a broken wrist during the last match against Slytherin), and he was not as smart or walked around with his nose up in the air like his younger brother, but I always thought he sounded too cocky in sixth year Potions. So why would some Quidditch extraordinaire want to work in a pet store?

I seriously have no answer. But I’m determined to find out.

_

Since I could barely pick myself up without falling straight on my buttocks, we’ve had the shop. Here is a little history about Fur, Feathers, and Fins (AKA FFF):

Mum despised the shop. Dad was in absolute delight about it. FFF caused some major marriage problems between the two.

Backdrop: My parents, Alicia Spinnet and Nolan Mackenzie met at Hogwarts. Though hardly. Mum was two years behind him, a Gryffindor Chaser with a sharp tongue and no tolerance for distracting boys. Dad thought she was cute but he was a shy Hufflepuff that helped Hagrid feed the giant squid on weekends. It wasn’t until a year after she graduated when they ran into each other at a shared friend’s wedding. Long story short: They got married not even six months later. Everything was good - Dad was working at a muggle Bar and Mum was paying the bills because of the Harpies; They laughed and talked and mum prodded at his ribs whenever he sang terribly to her.

And then an abandoned shop went for sale in Diagon Alley. “This was my real chance!” he always says. It had always been his dream to open a pet store filled with all sorts of animals - magical and non magical. Anything with fur, feathers, and fins that wanted a home. And he was going to be the one to help that. Except mum hated it.

She wanted to open a Quidditch supplies shop. Anything that wasn’t even remotely human made her skin itch. And being seven months pregnant with me, she didn’t find it a spectacular idea. Something along the lines of, “You couldn’t even decide on bloody nursery wallpaper but you can decide on this in a split second!”

I spent the first four months of my babyhood yanking on the tails of Kneazles and swatting my chubby palms at flying Golden Snidgets. Mum only came to the shop when she absolutely needed to and Dad sometimes spent nights there alone. Then they got divorced.

I was too young to really understand it so having two parents that live in separate parts of the world and only speak to each other when it directly affects me was a norm growing up. I lived with Mum in Leeds until I went to Hogwarts and saw Dad on certain Holidays. He was so happy when I was sorted into Hufflepuff, and to be honest… I felt closer to him somehow. Mum scrunched up her nose like she always does but she never said anything.

Once I graduated Hogwarts, Dad offered me a job working for FFF. I immediately took it, moving into a flat in London with my best mate, and mum had gotten remarried to some boring bloke that didn’t age well. Dad is still hung up on her though and I only know this because he still has their wedding photos and such sitting around his house. I don’t say anything about them.

Anyway.

So for the last four years I have been working for FFF. Some people think it’s a complete joke - that it is easy. “Oh, you work at a pet store?” Like it’s lame. “All you do is feed them and wait for someone to take them home?” Like that shit is easy.

News Flash: It isn’t easy.

Some days I actually want to bury my head into a blender and make myself into a smoothie. The chirping and meowing and barking and growling and whatever else noises they can make can drive a person up a wall. So bloody loud and consistent. I don’t think I know what it’s like not to have a headache anymore.

And then we have to clean up after them. That’s right. The stuff that comes out of both ends of these magical buggers. And some are SO smart, in fact I think Monty (a kneazle) makes himself vomit on purpose because he knows I have to mop it up. They can be so cruel. And so nasty.

But the hardest part is: when they get adopted. I know, it’s what we’re even open for business for and whatnot. But I grow so fondly for each and every one of them, even the grumpy fur balls. It breaks my heart just a little when they leave the shop, but it’s a bittersweet feeling.

It wasn’t until the seventh employee that my dad hired had quit when he finally ordered me to hire the next. The thought of interviewing randoms made me nauseous - I was not cut out for that type of bizz. But we needed the extra help and so I made a funky flyer - and by “I made” I mean my best mate did - and suddenly I was interviewing at least a dozen people for three days straight.

But like I said prior: they all bloody sucked. The animals would hiss at some, hide from others - or the interviewees would scream at some, hide from others. It was turning out to be a bleeding mess. I was beginning to lose hope and starting to accept the fact that I was gonna have to work ten times harder.

And then James Potter walked through the door.

Cue the ironic sound bell from muggle rom coms.

His brown hair was styled with gel, his yellow tie was almost as bright as his face, which, to say the least, was dazzling. Of course I always admitted to myself that James Potter II was a handsome bloke, back in my Hogwarts days. It wasn’t like I daydreamed about him snogging me in the broom closets, but I did turn pink once when he picked up the quill I had dropped that one time. But seeing him grow from a teenager to a 20-something. . . Okay, he got better-looking.

He smiled awkwardly when he saw me and I looked like a right-damn idiot - my jaw practically sitting on the floor just staring at him like a pea-sized brain fish! But thankfully, I came to my senses, wiping my hands on my red trousers and trying to smile back. Key word: Trying.

“Can I help you with something?” I asked with my employee-polite-voice.

He whisked out parchment from his pants pocket. It was my stupid lime-green flyer. OH my Merlin.

“I’m here for a position?” He asked like it was a question, I almost laughed. “You’re still hiring right?”

“Um, yes, we are -”

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Purrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Monty, the grumpy fat kneazle that hated everyone including me, was purring and trailing around James’ legs, making bright orange kneazle-fur to stick to his pants. You have got to be kidding me right now.

I snatched Monty away - trying not to get myself scratched in the process as Monty began wailing like something hideous. Which he is. “I am so bloody sorry, James. Truly, I do not know what has gotten into -”

“You remember me?” James asked, looking surprised. How could he even look surprised? Of course I’d remember HIM. But how in the bleeding world could someone like James Potter remember someone like ME? I had one friend in Hogwarts and I was - not going to lie - invisible.

“Well - yeah,” I replied lamely. And then out of bravery I asked, “You know me?”

James laughed. It was beautiful.

“If I can recall, you were always around Montgomery,” he explained and then he shook his head with a small smile playing on his lips. “You were always distracting that Keeper of mine. Could never block a quaffle when you were sitting in the stands. I guess it’s your fault we lost against Hufflepuff in the last match.”

Laughter erupted out of me so much I could barely control it. I never distracted Gavin during games. How could I even distract him? I was always too busy reading books on magical creatures to even know who won the blasted games.

James was looking at me weirdly and so I stopped laughing. Trying to play it cool I said, “I guess I just wanted my own House to win for a change. You Gryffindors were always too boastful.”

“Is that what you truly believe?” He was smiling like a kid on Christmas. “Maybe we were just trying to impress some pretty Hufflepuffs.”

Oh. My. Merlin.

Was he flirting?

He totally was.

Merlin.

I raised an eyebrow and decided to try to act like James Potter flirting with me was like bleeding normal or ordinary. “I’m not sure I can talk for all of my fellow Hufflepuffs, but I was too busy to notice arrogant teenage boys,” I said out loud, but on the inside I was dancing.

“Ah!” He jokingly put a hand over his heart like I had broken it. “My inner seventeen year old boy has a broken heart now. How dare you, Kitty Mackenzie.”

Oh. I hadn’t been called Kitty, other than by my father since I was in Hogwarts, so it was strange and unexpected when James said it. He was still grinning at me and I suddenly had the feeling that James Potter was a smiler and I would be damned if I were to be the one to break that smile.

“So. . .” I said as James picked Monty up off the ground and snuggled him against his chest. This cannot be real. When I finally wake up, I will realize this whole interaction had been a beautiful blissful dream. “When can you start?”

“You hired Harry Potter’s son?!” Dad has been freaking out since I told him the news of our new employee for the past like, ten minutes. His eyes are like saucers. “Harry Potter’s son is working for my pet shop.”

I roll my eyes and take a bite of my bread roll. In between bites I say, “Why do you keep saying his name like that? He’s just a person.”

“He’s not just a person, didn’t you learn anything in school?”

Yes, I know Harry Potter saved the wizarding world. He defeated the most evilest wizard ever. He’s the boy-who-lived. Yadada. Of course I know all about him, it’s basically imprinted in my brain forever. Especially since Dad worships the man. But he’s still just a person. And I could always tell James, and his siblings, didn’t like the special treatment they’d get all the time.

Instead, just to grind his gears a little more, I tell him all seriously, “No, never heard of him. I only learned about Nifflers.”

Dad gives me a look. “Do you realize how great this is for our shop?”

I raise an eyebrow. “How is James Potter great for the shop? He hasn’t even started yet. He might even quit like the last seven hires.”

Despite what I just told him, Dad smiles wide. “Everyone is going to want see Harry Potter’s son at work. Business will be booming!”

“Dad.” I sighed. “Don’t try to use this for publicity. I know you mean it from the heart but seriously, don’t. I think he might have some real potential.”

He studies me for a moment before nodding. “You’re right, I’m sorry Kitty. We shouldn’t even be discussing the shop. Let’s just eat this delicious dinner you cooked for us. This must have taken you ages, sweetie!”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, grinning. “One hundred percent a homemade meal.”

Okay, lie. It was totally take-out.

Later when I get to my flat, I run into a woman in the kitchen and almost scream.

Okay. I actually did scream.

“Merlin,” she gasps and almost drops the towel wrapped around her. Bloody hell, why is there a half-naked woman in my kitchen?!

The answer: Gavin. It’s always because of Gavin.

When I swing open his bedroom door, he curses and quickly tries to cover himself with a blanket. “Kaitlyn! Bloody hell! Can’t you knock?”

I lean against the doorway and give him a sour look. “Oh, I’m sorry. Are we talking about rules right now?”

Gavin sits on the edge of his bed and sighs. “Uh, I know. I know.”

I don’t budge. “‘Cause I thought we had a rule about you bringing women to the flat only on Fridays and Saturdays. NOT on Sundays. I almost just sucker punched that woman in the face, Gavin!”

He suppresses a laugh and I give him a look that could really freaking kill him. He gulps.

“I’m sorry, Kaitlyn but -”

The woman clears her throat behind me and I turn to her. She looks even more pissed than me. “Excuse me,” she says to me, “but did you say women as in plural or singular because I was under the impression that I was the only woman in Gavin’s life.”

“Uhhh,” I say, stumbling for words. Oh, crap. “Well. . . I mean, you’re not the ONLY woman in his life, I am his roommate.”

She raises her auburn eyebrows and her brown eyes dart back and forth between Gavin and I. He looks so nervous. “Really?” She says. “Wow. Huh. Because he said that his roommate was a guy.”

“Okay, I think I’m gonna let you two talk and - “ Gavin sends me pleading eyes as I slip past and run for cover.

I hear him say, “Babe, I know this looks bad but it’s kind of a funny story actually -” before the door shuts.

I would NOT like to be him right now. He’s my best mate since basically forever but the guy is a total womanizer. He had it comin’, as people say.

I’m sitting on the sofa eating popcorn when the redhead marches out, never even glancing my way, and Gavin jumps onto the seat beside me. He grabs a handful of popcorn and eats it like the animals at FFF.

“Whatcha watching?” He asks me brightly.

I raise an eyebrow. “A muggle film. Aren’t you a little upset about whatshername?”

“Why should I be upset? Everything is fine.”

“Oh. So you guys talked?”

“Oh, yeah,” he says. “We “talked” all right.” And then he wiggles his eyebrows.

“You’re a pig!” I tell him and shove him so hard that he nearly topples to the ground. Once he stops laughing I tell him that I actually hired someone.

“Woah! Congrats! Who’s the unlucky person?”

“Okay, so don’t freak out. . .”

“Why would I?” He asks me, his dark brows furrowing.

“I don't know. My dad did. And you know him from Hogwarts.”

Gavin looks surprised by this. “Really? Hmm. All right, tell me.”

“It’s James Potter.”

“Fucking Hell.”

“Gavin!” I exclaim.

He looks stony serious. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just. . . a bit weird that you hired James Potter. And you’re going to be working with him like, everyday now.”

“Why is that so weird?” I ask him.

“Because that girl - bloody hell - that girl is Lily Potter. James’ younger sister.”

Oh. Shit.

Hi! I hope you enjoy the first chapter! I am currently working on chapter 6 :)