"What just happened, Harry?" Ron asked in confusion.
"I-I don't know," Harry said, obviously still in shock.
"Well? What did she say to Krum?" Ron asked eagerly.
"Those letters weren't to Krum," Harry said quietly and retreated to the boys' dormitory.
"WHAT?!" Ron shouted. "Who were they to?" He asked hurriedly and followed Harry up the stairs.
"That didn't happen quite how I'd expected," Crookshanks grumbled more to himself than to anyone in particular.
"Look how devastated he was!" Hedwig hooted in disbelief. "We have to fix this! We have to fix this now!"
"How? Are we going to write letters and have them meet?" Crookshanks drawled in irritation.
"DIDYOUSEETHELOOKONHISFACEITWASCLASSIC!" Pigwidgeon hooted excitedly as he rocketed into the room and flitted around in dizzying circles. "WHEN'STHEPARTY?WHEN'STHEPARTY?!"
Hedwig glared witheringly at the pigeon sized owl and then turned her gaze on Crookshanks. "He needs me," she hooted quietly and without another word flew out the window.
Crookshanks watched her go and then padded up to Hermione's room. He stopped in his tracks when he heard her crying through the door.
She's really shaken up, he thought as he pushed open the door then trotted over to her bed. With a plaintive mew, he hopped onto the mattress and looked at Hermione as she lay on her bed and cried into her pillow.
Crookshanks gently bumped his head against her cheek and with watery eyes, she looked up to his squashed face.
"Oh, Crookshanks, what have I done?" she asked miserably. "Just when I realized how much I need him, I push him farther away than he was pushing me!" Fresh tears came to her eyes and she cradled her cat to her. "What am I going to do?" she whimpered quietly into his soft fur.
"Mate, what's wrong? Why did she go off on you like that?" Ron asked his best friend through the closed drapes of Harry's four-poster. "Harry, talk to me."
"It doesn't matter, Ron," Harry said miserably as he slowly stroked Hedwig's feathers. "Hermione will be safe now, follow her lead."
"What? Have you gone stark, raving, barking mad?!" Ron asked in confusion. "How is she safe?!" he bellowed as he ripped open the curtains.
"Voldemort will go after you and Hermione first, to get to me, just like he did Sirius," Harry said with a strained voice. "Leave me alone, Ron, you don't need to put yourself in danger!"
"Is THAT what this is about?!" Ron asked hotly. "You're bloody stupid if you really believe that, Harry!"
"Look what happened to Sirius! Hermione! Tonks! Kingsley! YOU!" Harry snapped in reply. "Because I was a fool and ran off to the Department of Mysteries, you could have all been KILLED AND SIRIUS WAS!"
Hedwig looked worriedly at Harry and then to Ron when the redhead began clenching and unclenching his fists.
"Harry, it was a mistake and Sirius didn't die because of you!" Ron said very calmly and evenly. "Mum wanted me to tiptoe around this subject with you but I'm not going to let you push me away because of it. It wasn't your fault, you know it! Now look what you've gone and done... Hermione may irritate the bloody hell out of me, but you've gone and purposefully hurt her!"
"I did it for her own good," Harry said under his breath.
"'For her own good,' he says," Ron growled. "You've hurt her more than any number of names that Malfoy SPEWs at her each day, Harry! You listen, and you listen good: pushing us away isn't right! We're your friends, Harry, we've been through too much together to do this to each other and you're not going to push us away!"
"YOU'D BE SAFER!" Harry bellowed but didn't sound like he was convinced himself.
"Right, just keep telling yourself that over and over and maybe you'll believe it, Harry," Ron said coolly. "I'm going to try and get Hermione down from her room and you're going to apologize to her."
Harry didn't say a word as Ron stalked angrily from their room and slammed the door behind him.
He needs her, Hedwig sighed to herself as she looked into his moist eyes. I can see it, he needs her... He doesn't need me... Hedwig hopped to the windowsill and looked back one more time. Harry was holding a picture of the three of them from last Christmas, tears streaking silently down his cheeks at the memory.
I'll help fix this, I promise, she vowed to her master and took to the air. It was a short trip to Hermione's window and she looked in to see Ginny Weasley sitting on the bed next to her friend.
"He's just afraid, Hermione, you have to understand that," Ginny said quietly as she rubbed Hermione's back.
"I know, Ginny, but I'm tired of it all, I'm tired of him pushing me away when all I want to do is be there for him," Hermione said quietly.
"Tell him that."
"I have, and he's just stared at me. For the past eight months, he's just stared at me or given one word replies to any questions I ask," Hermione said sadly. "Our friendship must not mean that much to him-"
"Of course it does!" Ginny reprimanded immediately. "He's confused and doesn't know what to do!"
"He's not going to let me in, Ginny," Hermione lamented. "What point is there in talking to a wall all day?"
"I saw how he was with you last year," Ginny said quietly. "He's just confused and worried that You Know Who will come after you..."
"Voldemort will come after me whether I'm near him or not!" Hermione said in frustration. "I'm a bloody Muggle born! Of course he's going to come after me! No, no, you know what? I'm tired of having this conversation! I'm tired of trying to convince myself that Harry will come back... I'm tired of it all, Ginny..."
Crookshanks looked out the window to see Hedwig watching from the window sill and give him a plaintive look. He meowed, hopped from the bed to Hermione's desk, and began to scratch at the window.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked in frustration as she followed her cat's progress. She stopped when her eyes met with those of Hedwig's but before she could rise from the bed, the snowy owl flew off.
"Do you think that was a sign?" Ginny asked quietly. "That Harry doesn't want you to leave him alone?"
"Of course I'm not going to leave him alone!" Hermione said in exasperation. "I could never leave him alone..."
Crookshanks returned to his perch in her lap, purring contentedly at the turn of events and at her soft touch.
"Why don't you go talk to him then?" Ginny asked quietly and placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "This can't be easy for either of you and you're both too close to end your friendship."
"I'm not going to end our friendship," Hermione sighed miserably. "I'm just tired of fighting to help him... I'm ready to just let him wallow."
"You don't mean that."
"No, I guess I don't," Hermione shrugged and set Crookshanks on the bed before leaving the room.
Nice move, Hedwig, Crookshanks crowed silently as he padded after Hermione. She didn't make it very far before Ron cornered her in the common room.
"What in the bloody hell is going on, Hermione?" he asked exasperatedly. "Whatever it is, you two have to fix it."
"What is there to fix when one of us doesn't know how to fix it?" Hermione countered. "Honestly, Ron, if Harry would just talk to me, this wouldn't have happened."
Ron's face went bright red and it looked as if he were about to blow up, but he calmed himself and contented himself with glaring as he spoke. "Whatever he's going through is no business of ours, Hermione," he said as calmly as he could. "He's lost his godfather and he's afraid he's going to lose us as well."
"I know that, Ron," Hermione said with a sigh. "I'm fully aware that he's pushing us away because he doesn't want Voldemort to use us to get to him."
"We can't let him do that!" Ron barked in frustration. "It's always been the three of us!" He looked at her in desperation. "Hermione, come with me and talk to Harry, we can't leave until he stops what he's doing!"
"I don't have any desire to talk at him right now, Ron," Hermione said. She rubbed her temples the shook her head. "I need to go for a walk, I'll be down by the lake if he pulls his head out of his arse."
Crookshanks watched as Hermione stormed out of the room, leaving a gaping mouthed Ron standing in her wake. He followed after Hermione, walking on her heels as she crunched through the snow to their favorite tree.
He was miserable, being out in the snow without the benefit of boots or a warm woolen cloak and after a half hour decided it would be best to wait in front of the common room fire place. Crookshanks turned and stopped dead in his tracks.
Harry was standing along the path that led back to the castle and from the looks of it, he'd been there a good ten to fifteen minutes.
"How long are you going to stand there and stare at me, Harry?" Hermione asked coolly from her spot against the tree.
"Sorry," Harry said quietly and looked to the snow. "I just wanted to apologize for reading your letters."
"Don't worry about it," she said casually, not taking her eyes from the frozen lake. "I shouldn't have left them out for Crookshanks to read."
"He got into your bag and pulled out a roll of parchment," Harry said quickly. "I didn't say he was reading them, he just started tugging at one of the rolls and it came undone... I saw that it was addressed to me and curiosity got the best of me..." He rubbed the back of his neck and nervously looked up. Her expression was unreadable though her moist eyes told everything. Harry cleared his throat and kicked at a loose piece of snow. "I'm sorry for pushing you and Ron away," he said quietly. "I didn't want to see you die like Sirius did."
"Harry, I'm a target whether or not I'm friends with you," Hermione said in exasperation and massaged her temples once again. "I'm Muggle Born!"
"I know..."
"Pushing me away is going to accomplish nothing!"
"I know..."
"Do you know how much it's hurt to see you do that to me? To Ron?" Hermione asked, finally looking at him.
Harry looked up and winced at the tears that were trailing down her cheeks. "It's hurt me as well," he said quietly before returning his attention to the ground. "It's just so confusing..."
Crookshanks watched the exchange as if he were at a Wimbledon match and a glint of satisfaction shined in his eyes at the look on Hermione's face. It was the same look she'd get when she read his letters or when she thought he needed her. It was the look of a young woman in love.
"Harry," she said softly and took a step towards him. "I wrote those letters to help me cope with what I was seeing in the wizarding world," she explained in resignation. "Since we were both raised in the non-magical world, I used you as a way to understand everything..."
"As long as the me in your head had the answers you needed," Harry said with a slight smirk. "I'm sorry I read them without your permission."
"It's ok as long as you promise that you won't do it again," Hermione said with a slight smile of her own.
"And?" he prompted.
Hermione huffed but the twinkles in her eyes said she wasn't really irritated. "And..." she repeated, "as long as you stop pushing us away from you."
"I will," Harry said quietly as he shrugged his shoulders. "Stop pushing you away, that is..."
The promise brought a full smile to Hermione's face and she stepped forward to give him a hug, but Crookshanks, seeing the perfect timing he was currently afforded, darted in front of her.
With a tiny yelp of surprise, Hermione tripped and fell. Harry had his arms around her faster than even he realized and within the span of a heartbeat, the two of them were in a tangled mess in a snow bank.
"Harry, I'm sorry," Hermione whimpered as she struggled to free herself, but Harry's arms hadn't left their place from around her waist.
"I care about you too, Hermione," Harry said quietly, their faces merely inches apart, "very much. It's going to take some time, but I'll talk to you about everything that's bothering me... I just need some time."
"Thank you," she whispered, her eyes never leaving his. "I'm sorry I blew up..."
"Y-you had every right," Harry said softly.
Crookshanks watched in agony as the two friends, who were obviously more than just friends, continued to whisper apology after apology to each other. His frayed patience at it's breaking point, he decided it was time to push this along with a little force.
Neither Harry nor Hermione saw Crookshanks hunker down nor did they see him leap into the air. Hermione's squeak of surprise as Crookshanks landed on the back of her head, followed by the surprised look on Harry's face when their lips met drove all thoughts of the ginger cat from the two teenagers' minds.
Hermione pulled away quickly, her cheeks pink from more than just the frigid, winter air. "I'm sorry, Harry! Crookshanks has never acted like this before!"
Harry had another stunned look on his face, quite different, however, than the one he sported earlier that day. "It's fine," he said strangely but held Hermione in place.
"Harry, are you ok?" she asked worriedly. "You didn't get hurt when we fell, did you?"
"Hermione," Harry said with a smile. "If I can fall from a hundred feet in the air and survive, falling a few feet with you on top of me isn't going to hurt me all that much."
"You git!" she replied with a playful slap on his shoulder. "Let me up!"
"Do... do you really want me to?" he asked nervously. "Let you up, that is?"
Hermione looked into his eyes and the smile that was on her face disappeared. "No," she said quietly.
"Did you notice what was in the tree?" he asked as his eyes lost focus.
"No," Hermione whispered as Harry's hand settled upon her cheek.
"Mistletoe," he whispered in reply.
"Oh," she breathed and this time, the full weight of a pouncing cat wasn't needed to bring them together in their first kiss.
Though it's been said that only the Cheshire Cat was the only feline to ever truly smile, though in a quite maniacal fashion, there was another cat who understood the meaning behind that mischievous, ear-to-ear grin that famous fictional beast wore. Crookshanks, quite literally, grinned as if he'd just eaten a canary.
Whoever put the mistletoe in the great old oak Harry and Hermione were under must be commended, he thought as he turned and padded up the path to the castle.
There they were: Harry and Hermione, kissing each other as if there were no tomorrow. Hedwig dropped the remaining bits of mistletoe she was carrying into the crook of the tree and let out a quiet sigh.
He was right, damn him to hell, she thought sadly and glared at the ginger bit of fluff that was waddling through the snow on his way back to Hogwarts. Knocking their heads together like that! she harrumphed with a quiet hoot.
The young couple under the tree didn't notice Hedwig fly back to the owlery and the white owl knew things would never be the same again.
"I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione said quietly at Hogsmeade station. "My parents won't take no for an answer, I can't stay at the school this holiday..."
Crookshanks fidgeted in her arms and stared witheringly at Harry. The dense fool had ignored all his pleas to remain, to be free of Hermione's vice like grip, but he was unable to wriggle out of another family trip.
"I just don't want to spend Christmas without you, Hermione," Harry said quietly and set his hand on her arm. "You'll be gone for two weeks..."
"I know, I don't want to miss Christmas either, Harry," she said sadly, "but I can't keep ignoring my family. The time will fly by," she said, quite unconvincingly.
"I guess," he said quietly. The last call for boarding the Hogwarts Express sounded and Harry looked up miserably. "Looks like it's time for you to go," he said with a forlorn smile.
"I'll be back before you know it," she said with a soft smile. "Happy Christmas, Harry."
"Happy Christmas," he said, followed by a soft kiss.
Hermione had to run to make the train and she stood at the door, waving to him when Crookshanks finally wriggled free of her grasp and plopped into the snow.
"CROOKSHANKS!" Hermione yelled, her reach too short and the train's speed too great for her to do much more.
"I'LL WATCH HIM!" Harry shouted at the top of his lungs as he waved to the retreating train which quickly disappeared around the bend.
"Come on, troublemaker," Harry said with a slight chuckle. "Thought you'd get her to stay by making her chase you, eh?"
I knew that wouldn't work, Crookshanks admonished Harry silently as he was unceremoniously plucked from the snow bank.
"What do you say we go back to the common room and sit in front of the fireplace?" Harry asked and laughed when Crookshanks bumped his head into his chin.
NOW we're talking! the runaway cat mewled as they made their trek back to the castle.
Crookshanks watched Hedwig over the next few days as she flew back and forth between Harry and Hermione. Though she wouldn't accept it was possible, he really felt sorry for her.
"Why do you do it?" he purred one night after she'd returned with Hermione's reply. "I know you're in love with him..."
"If wanting to see him happy means I'm in love with him, then I am," she hooted curtly. "Now, I'm tired from that last trip, would you please let me rest?"
Crookshanks rolled his eyes and padded out of the owlery. Pigwidgeon was thankfully absent, collecting gifts from the Weasley family. Living the life of an owl was not his cup of tea and he was happy he was a cat.
"How many times must I tell you to stop roaming the halls after dark?" a familiar feline meow came from behind him.
"Mrs. Norris!" Crookshanks mewled in mock surprise. "How nice it is to see you!"
"Save it," she hissed in reply. "You should get back to Gryffindor Tower before master finds you. Curfew has been extended to pets as well."
"So you're thinking of my safety? How wonderfully kind of you!" he meowed sarcastically. "Since when are pets confined to human rules?"
"Since word has it animagi are going to try and sneak into the school," she purred. "I may not like you, but I don't want to see what spells they use on one of my kind..."
"Point taken," Crookshanks said as his ears flattened. "Happy Christmas."
"Christmas is a human holiday," Mrs. Norris meowed and disappeared behind a tapestry.
Though she was cold, Crookshanks didn't dislike Mrs. Norris at all. Sure, she was abrasive and haughty, even for a quarter kneazle, but she'd been pleasurable company a few years ago.
I guess everyone shows their loyalty in one way or another, he grumbled silently as he curled up next to Harry on a sofa in the common room. He looked up at the dark-haired boy and let out a yawn.
"Happy Christmas," Harry said quietly and began petting Crookshanks. "Happy, bloody, Christmas." He looked at the clock and with a yawn of his own, left for the boys' dormitory. "There should be warming pans in the bed if you want a more comfortable place to sleep," he said over his shoulder.
Warming pan were the words that caused his ears to perk up and, without needing another invitation, Crookshanks padded up the stairs ahead of Harry. Sure enough, the spot at the bottom of the bed was very warm and much more comfortable than the sofa so he curled up and fell asleep just after Harry had slipped under the blankets.
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS!"
Crookshanks jumped nearly three feet at the excited shout of one Hermione Jane Granger. Harry also jumped and scrambled madly for his wand and glasses.
"Hermione?" we whispered in disbelief.
"Do you think Ron would be caught in this dress?" she asked with a laugh and hugged Harry with all her might.
The smile on Harry's face was instant and his lips were on hers in approximately the same amount of time. "I thought you weren't coming back until next week!" he said as a tremendous grin broke across his face.
"I convinced my parents to take a shorter trip," Hermione said with a laugh. "I took the Knight Bus back to school this morning! Filch was in a right state when I showed up!"
"I'll bet!" Harry said with a smirk. "It's good to see you."
"It's good to see you too," she said breathlessly. "Are you going to open your presents now or later?"
"Later," he said with a mischievous grin, "I have everything I wished for right here."
Hermione's smile faded when Harry cupped her cheek and Crookshanks rolled his eyes as they began kissing.
Again, the cat grumbled to himself as he exited the room. He looked back to see hands in hair and arms around one another as they fell back onto the bed. If they're not careful, they'll get the nickname: 'Rabbits,' he thought with a snicker to himself.
A/N: Merry Christmas! (and any other yuletide saying in different languages) That's it, end of story. I hope it was fluffy enough for you all and thanks for the reviews! :) I do apologize, I said there would be three chapters, but after the tribute to Amynoelle and Heaven, I found that this story was finished. Speaking of Amynoelle, I have to thank her for doing the beta work on this story! She's been totally supportive and wonderful throughout the whole week or so I took to write it :) And to the challenge issuers for the insane plot bunnies that tried to gnaw their heads off. Yes, the 'Learning to Cope' challenge is similar to others, I just threw in the pet perspective to mix it up... There's only so much you can do to make things different when writing about what Hermione's experienced and Demosthenes' story is quite similar as well (Demosthenes wrote it first, btw...). Now, it's off to work on other projects, one of which is Final Fantasy X-2... I need some game time in ;) But, I haven't forgotten the other stories or those who read them. Thanks again for your wonderful support and reviews, please do try and leave one for every chapter you read, the author really appreciates feedback :) Again, MERRY CHRISTMAS!