smitten kitten // larry stylinson

when harry met louis

When Harry got a text from Liam saying that the Paynes' had found a kitten hybrid, and if Harry wanted to meet the kitten, he was immediately intrigued. Just like everyone else, he'd seen the reports about illegal merging of kittens and humans on the telly, but he'd never actually seen a hybrid in real life.

Harry grabbed his umbrella, and with a quick "goodbye" to his mum and sister, he slipped out of the front door and walked to the Paynes' house, hoping to catch a glimpse of a real life kitten hybrid and see what it was like.

A minute or two after Harry knocked the door, no one had opened the door for him and he was starting to get a little impatient, but then Liam answered the door and greeted his best friend. "Hey, H. Here to see the kitten?"

"Yup." Harry closed his umbrella and shucked off his shoes. "What took you so long to answer the door?"

"We're trying to give the kitty a bath before we go to the center, and we were all in the bathroom upstairs." Liam closed the door after Harry. "I didn't even hear your knocking at first."

"Oh, okay." Harry ran a hand through his curls. "How's the bathing going?"

Liam huffed. "Not good. He's refusing and is actually really distressed, he's crying and whining and panicking and we don't know what to do."

"Is it because he's half cat and cats don't like water?"

Liam shrugged. "I mean, that's probably a factor, but I have another theory. Having a bath requires the kitty to take off his clothes - we were going to take off everything but his underwear, his clothes are really dirty anyway so we want to get them off. We asked him to take them off and he wouldn't, so we tried to help him do it, but then he started screaming and crying. He hasn't talked yet, so I don't know for sure, but..." Liam's voice suddenly became hushed. "I think... I don't know, but I have a feeling someone really hurt the kitty before."

Harry could hear pitiful, pained cries from upstairs and he immediately felt sorry for the hybrid. "Is this a bad time, then? I can come back and meet the kitten after you guys have sorted everything out."

"You can stay if you want." Liam started towards the stairs. "We might need another pair of helping hands later."

"I can see if I can calm the hybrid down?" Harry suggested. "Dogs and cats usually like me, so maybe the same thing will apply with the kitten hybrid."

"Yeah, okay. None of us have been able to calm him down, so maybe you can." Liam and Harry made their way upstairs, where the rest of the Paynes and the kitten hybrid were in the bathroom. Liam knocked on the bathroom door and opened it.

The kitten was backed against the wall, tears streaming down his face as the Paynes tried to calm him down with promises that they weren't trying to hurt him. At the sound of the door opening, the kitten looked up at spotted Harry, and momentarily stopped crying as he stared at the green-eyed boy. Harry slowly walked towards the hybrid and knelt down, the others backing away to give Harry some space.

"Hey there," Harry said in a low, soothing voice.

The kitten eyed Harry, eyes flitting nervously between Harry and the Paynes that were standing behind Harry. Harry suddenly understood and turned around, saying to the Paynes, "Do you guys mind leaving the room for a bit? I think he's overwhelmed by the amount of people here."

"Yeah, okay." Karen nodded and ushered her and the rest of her family out, closing the door gently behind them.

Harry turned back to the kitten. "There, is that better?"

The kitten gave the slightest nod and visibly relaxed.

Harry sat down on the bathroom floor and studied the hybrid carefully, amazed at how the boy had caramel ears and a tail. The kitten's eyes were so blue, his lips were so pink, his nose was so cute, and Harry felt an instant pull towards the little hybrid. The kitten was studying Harry too, blue eyes wide and apprehensive, but something about this tall, curly-haired stranger attracted the kitten to him. His presence was so reassuring and he smelled so yummy.