ENCHANTRESS | Harry Potter

FOUR

Draco didn't come to the office after his injury. Theodore and Harry, though, joined Ron and Bada less than an hour later and remained with them after getting the message Bada sent Harry via Patronus, that Vance was asking for Draco in her office. It was from Theodore they learnt Draco was going to be fine but wouldn't be coming back to work because he was slightly dizzy—Theodore had even apparated him to the Ministry—while Harry ensured them Goyle was indeed in St. Mungo's and he would get the help he claimed he needed.

Bada left a few hours later when her shift ended with Harry by her side, as Theodore and Ron had rushed off the moment they could, leaving them behind. They walked next to each other until they reached the atrium, and from there each apparated to their own desired destinations.

The alley Bada chose was void of people, as it always was—no one in their right minds would find themselves in a dead end with no light in sight—and she didn't waste a moment to cross the lane to reach the sidewalk and the main street. The ground beneath her feet was wet, evidence of the rain that had fallen a few hours ago, and some people still walked with their umbrellas on their arms, as if expecting it to rain any second. Even though there were clouds above, Bada doubted it would rain again any time soon.

She dropped by a grocery store before heading home, remembering in the last minute that her fridge was empty, and after taking that short detour, she headed for her apartment. She struggled for a while to get her key in the keyhole although she managed in the end, kicked her door closed. She climbed the steps to the first floor where her apartment was and headed over. She had almost reached her door when her attention fell on the door leading to Sahira's apartment, or most specifically, the cat appearing to be waiting in front of her door.

Bada had never seen a cat like it in her entire life. If she hadn't known any better and wasn't seeing her with her own eyes, she would have told anyone attempting to mock her that there was some trick of the light because surely, this was a jaguar with slightly darker fur and not a cat. But it was a cat, no matter how much like a jaguar it appeared to be in her eyes. It was sitting at the doormat in front of Sahira's door, a paw left raised in the air as if it had been scratching on the door, its eyes, light green and impossibly wide, staring right at Bada. Cautiously, she placed her groceries by her door and then opened her door wide.

"How did you get in here?" she asked the cat softly, never taking her eyes off of her as she moved her groceries through the threshold, left them by the table. She would worry about placing them in their decent positions another time. The cat hadn't moved a muscle, and Bada couldn't help but wonder if there was a reason it was standing by Sahira's door or not. "Are you waiting for someone?"

She would have felt silly, talking to a cat in such an open space, if there was a risk of anyone listening to her. Thankfully, she was on her own. Until she heard footsteps coming closer. Bada looked up only to see Sahira going down the stairs from an upper floor. She was dressed the way she was yesterday, her attire casual to say the least, the shirt she was wearing this time another faded one with a band's name in the middle. At the sight of her, her face broke into a smile.

"Hello again," she greeted, "I seem to have caught you just as you got home."

"You did," she admitted, then glanced back at Sahira. "This cat has been by your doorstep ever since I got here."

"Don't worry about it, she's mine," she assured her as she reached her doorstep, searched through her pockets for a moment before she found her key and unlocked her door. The moment it was open, the cat rushed into the apartment.

"Good, I just thought maybe she had slipped in with someone through the front door," she admitted, "it's nice to know she isn't on her own. Have you had her for a long time?"