Have a nice trip!

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters in this story. That honor belongs to Ms. J.K. Rowling.

I was lying on her bed snoozing peacefully when she slipped quietly into her dorm room. She had been talking with him again, I could tell. She always got this faraway look in her eyes after being with him. Not that I minded of course, as I always got a little extra loving on the side as a result. This time proved to be no exception.

She sat down on the bed next to me and began stroking my ginger fur. I purred in contentment as her delicate fingers started at my head and ran all the way down by back to my tail. Occasionally she would scratch in front of my ears or along the side of my face where my whiskers grew. I sighed happily and heard her echo my sigh. I looked up at her face and saw the dreamy look in her eyes and the slight smile on her face. However, that look was short lived as a look of sadness passed across her delicate features.

My human looked down at me as she continued her petting. “Crookshanks,” she said. “Why can’t life be simple?”

I knew what she meant. I am part Kneazle, after all, and therefore smarter than your average cat. She was referring, of course, to Harry Potter, her best friend. Although recently she had become to think of him as more than a friend, as she had confided in me several times. After all, who was I going to tell?

Her feelings for him had been growing for some time. Many nights I would be lounging in the common room below only to hear her footsteps on the stairs. Whenever she would have trouble sleeping, she would go there to read. (I, being the good cat that I am, would wander over to her and allow her to scratch my head as she read, never once thinking of my own gratification.) Just as often, Harry would come down from the boys’ dormitories after waking from an unpleasant sleep. (Even I, Crookshanks the cat, knew of the famous Harry Potter and the nightmares he was often plagued by.)

The two of them would sit on the couch in front of the fire as he explained what was troubling him. (I knew he never told her everything as I had slipped into his room on several occasions and could hear him talking in his sleep. It was nice that he would try to spare her the worst of his horrors.) She would listen attentively, and I could always see the concern she held for him on her face. When he had gotten things off his chest, they would sit there talking for hours at a time until they both felt relaxed enough to sleep. They would then stand and say goodnight, each staring at the other for the longest time before going to their separate rooms. Honestly, to anyone with half a brain it was pretty obvious that they cared for one another in a way that went deeper than mere friendship. If only the two of them could see it.

I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed my human had quit petting me and was now ready for bed. She climbed under the covers and I took up my usual position near at her feet. Before drifting off to sleep, I made myself a vow. It had been three years since my human rescued me from that awful shop in Diagon Alley. She gave me a home and made me very happy. I vowed that I would try to make her as happy as I am. I would do everything in my power to bring her and Harry Potter together.

The next day I had the Gryffindor tower pretty much to myself as the students were busy with classes. I laid down in one of my favorite spots next to the fireplace and began to formulate my plan. I knew that my human harbored feelings for Harry Potter, just as he did for her. The problem was how to get them to act on those feelings. Idea after idea came to me, but none would have worked seeing as how I have no hands and no way to vocalize my wishes, so I quickly discarded them. I was beginning to get frustrated when I heard the portrait to the hallway outside open. Ginny Weasley came into the common room and was headed for the girl’s dormitories. On her way, she stopped and scratched me behind the ears while giving me a lighthearted greeting. I reveled in her touch as I cared for her nearly as much as I did for my human.

That’s when the thought came to me. Touch! The touch of another can elicit strong emotions, whether it is from an animal or a human. Looking back in my memory I realized that in all the time my human and Harry spent together, they rarely touched. Sure, there was the squeeze of a hand here or a quick hug there, but nothing that lasted any length of time. If I could get them in a situation in which they not only touched but also were in close proximity to one another, then nature would take its course. I closed my eyes and smiled (which is rather difficult for a cat!), laying my head on my paws. My plan was set. Now all I had to do was to wait for the right moment.

As fate would have it, that very night found the conditions perfect to set my plan in motion. Harry was the first one to the common room this night. He looked shaken, and I immediately knew he had just awakened from yet another nightmare. He sat down on the couch and I walked over to let him scratch my ears, knowing this would help comfort him. (Again, I was in no way looking for gratification on my part!) He began petting me and I purred my appreciation . . . er sympathy. Not five minutes later, my human came downstairs carrying one of her large textbooks. (I always thought it odd that the two of them would always know when the other was awake in the common room.) Harry turned to look at her and they smiled at one another. Now was the time to initiate my plan. As my human moved closer to the couch, I leaped down and entangled myself in her legs. The book fell from her hands and she went flying through the air. Harry’s arms stretched wide to catch her, and she landed on top of him. They both lay there sprawled on the couch and turned to glare at me.

“Crookshanks!” they cried in unison.

For my part I just gave them my most indignant stare and waited. Eventually they turned their attention back to one another and realized the closeness of their situation. They gazed into each other’s eyes for the longest time, neither moving. Now I’m a cat, and we’re known to have great patience, but even I was ready to scream at the top of my lungs, “Oh, go ahead and kiss already!” However, since I have neither the vocal chords, nor the proper oral musculature capable of producing speech, it would have come out sounding something like “mreorw”, and that would have just ruined the whole moment.

As I watched them closer, I could see something I had never seen in watching them before. It was the realization that the other felt something more than friendship for them. My fur stood on end as Harry reached his hand up and brushed away the hair that had fallen on my human’s face. I could see her shiver slightly at his touch and knew that any moment, I would see the fruits of my labor. Sure enough, he pulled her closer to him and brought their lips together.

Since I am a cat and therefore have no lips, I never really understood the fascination humans have with kissing, other than I know they find it enjoyable. (Much like a good scratch behind the ears.) However, from my observations over the years, I can tell you that no two people ever enjoyed kissing one another more than Harry and my human did.

Satisfied with what I had accomplished, I laid down in front of the fire to go to sleep. As I was getting ready to fall into a peaceful slumber, I heard Harry and my human talking.

“That was wonderful,” she said breathlessly.

“Yes, it was,” Harry replied. “I wonder why we haven’t done that before?”

“I don’t know, but I’m certainly glad I tripped.”

“So am I. But did it not seem to you as if Crookshanks tripped you on purpose?”

“I did think that.”

There was a pause, and sleep was just about to overtake me when Harry spoke again.

“Hermione? Is Crookshanks smiling?”