Gorgeous Crookshanks Reminisces

Gorgeous Crookshanks Reminisces

By: Plumgirl

Summary: <ONESHOT> Gorgeous Crookshanks reminisces over his first meeting with Hermione and the life they led.

AN: I was brainstorming about a story revolving around Crookshanks and I just started typing whatever I was thinking about. There is HHR implied, but this is mostly a story about Crookshanks and Hermione and the special relationship they had as pet and owner.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series and characters all belong to the wonderful J.K Rowling!

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When I first met Hermione, I was at that store, Magical Menagerie. I had been living there for a number of years. The storeowner was a decent person, but the other animals drove me nuts. Especially those mice that can skip rope and do fancy tricks. They may be attention grabbing and amusing to average people, but they aren’t practical! They’re like some fancy, useless toy and animals are not toys.

So what if most people went for those fancy mice or animals with magical abilities. And that most people wanted a handsome looking owl or a cute adorable fuzzy critter.

I’m neither handsome nor cute…and I wouldn’t say I’m adorable. But I am fuzzy.

Well, I wasn’t very appealing to the average human. With my squashed, flat face and bandy legs. Plus I’m huge. I‘m no kitten.

I didn’t think anyone would want to buy me. But it’s not like I was upset about it. I didn’t want to have an owner that was dimwitted and wouldn’t properly take care of me.

Those humans, they think they’re the ones doing the choosing, but really I am. I wouldn’t want a hyperactive kid as my owner. You know the ones that squeeze the air out of you when they hold you or yank on your tail.

Or those disgruntled teenagers with their teenage angst who are too busy with school, relationship, and friendship troubles to ever feed you or pay attention to you. My goodness, I’m glad Hermione isn’t like those kids.

A nice elderly lady would take care of you properly and be smart enough not to squeeze you or pull on your tail, but they tend to die on you fast.

I did have an elderly lady as an owner, but she died. That’s the thing I don’t like about elderly people, they’re right at the brink of death. They leave you just as you make a life with them.

So after she died and I was sold by her relatives to the store, and I made sure never to go home with an elderly person again. Or a hyperactive kid. Or a disgruntled teen.

I bit and scratched the kids.

I scowled and hissed at the teens.

And I simply avoided the elderly.

My standards aren’t that high. I just wanted an intelligent, responsible, young owner. Well, maybe they were.

Well, I didn’t think I would ever leave the store until one day a girl and two boys came in the store. A bushy brown haired girl, a redheaded boy and a messy dark-haired boy. I ignored them at first. Until the redhead showed the owner his rat.

My senses went into overdrive. There was something fishy about the rat. I jumped off the shelves to catch the rat, but it managed to scamper away.

The re headed boy went after his rat. The storeowner scolded me and apologized to the girl who had remained behind.

“Oh it’s alright. It is a cat, it’s in their nature to chase after rats” said the bushy-haired girl.

I was annoyed at having lost that rat and being held in a death grip by the storeowner.

The girl peered closely at my face. I just scowled. She just smiled.

She looked up at the owner and asked about me.

“Oh poor Crookshanks. He’s been here for years now. He’s half-kneazle, but no one wants him. He’s not very socially agreeable with the customers.” explained the storeowner, with a sigh.

‘Well fie on the customers. I can’t help it if they’re all idiots, or irresponsible or walking corpses.’ I thought as I tried to get out of the storeowner’s hands.

The girl glanced at me and smiled, “Well perhaps he doesn’t find the customers to be suitable owners for him. He is half-kneazle. Kneazles are quite intelligent creatures.”

I perked up at hearing this.

“Yes, perhaps.” The storeowner muttered.

“How much is he?” inquired the girl.

“Oh! You want to buy Crookshanks?!” the storeowner was surprised.

I was surprised too.

The girl bent slightly, to directly face me. “Well, if Crookshanks thinks I’m suitable to take care of him, I would love to buy him.”

The storeowner was sputtering and I just stared at her, to examine her.

She was a young teen, but she doesn’t seem to be one of those drama queens. She seemed responsible and intelligent, knowing about kneazles and all. She seemed to know how I think as well. Plus she was young.

Alright. I like her.

I mewed to reply.

The storeowner was surprised, hearing me mew (I never mew) and the girl looked delighted. Her arms reached out to hold me.

The storeowner gave me to the girl, happy to see me finding a new home.

The girl paid the storeowner for me and got a couple items for me then left the store, with me in her arms.

As we walked out of the store, she held onto me tightly (but didn’t squeeze me) and went to meet the two other boys.

As we were walking to them, I looked up at her, she was grinning. She looked down at me and smiled. It made me feel happy too.

She didn’t pick the fancy, skipping mice or the handsome owl or the cute, fuzzy animals. She picked me! The squashed, flat-faced, bandy-legged, bottlebrush-tailed, large ginger cat.

As we walked towards the two boys, I heard the redheaded boy groan as they both noticed me in her arms.

“You bought that monster?” He cried in disbelief.

“Isn’t he gorgeous?” declared the girl, smiling down at me, glowing with pride.

That moment, for the first time, I felt gorgeous. I knew I had made the perfect choice for her as my owner.

I nestled into her arms and I listened to her chatter and bicker with the two boys, as they walked through the streets of Diagon Alley.

I was happy and content. I had found a perfect home.

*****

Hermione was the perfect owner and companion. She was responsible, intelligent and compassionate. She was also young too. But I noticed she always found herself in danger with those two boys, Harry and Ron.

Actually, she avoided trouble, but those boys would get into trouble and get Hermione involved.

I really didn’t care for them at first. Especially the one called Ron. He was so protective of that imposter rat, Scabbers, and once almost kicked me!

He made Hermione cry a lot in 3^rd Year. They’d always get into fights about that fake rat and me. Hermione would always defend me and that dunderhead would always defend the imposter. Harry, tried being the mediator, but he too at one point sided with the dunderhead.

Well that changed later on that year, when that rat was revealed for who he really was. After that incident, the trio got along better and the boys treated me better. But I still wasn’t too fond of Ron.

So I wasn’t thrilled when Ron started dating Hermione.

Thank Merlin they both had volatile, stubborn tempers. After dating for about a month, they broke up.

They had fought even more as boyfriend/girlfriend and about a third of their fights started because of me. He’d always tried to nudge me off Hermione’s lap so he can snog her. I’d hiss and scratch at him, he’d get mad at me and Hermione would get mad at Ron for getting mad at me. Then they’d fight.

So anyways, they decided to remain friends.

*****

I don’t mind if Hermione dates, but she should at least date a suitable guy.

Viktor Krum was okay, but he scowled too much. Plus he couldn’t pronounce Hermione’s name properly. It was always, “Hermy-own” or “Herm-own-ninny”.

Even Hermione lost her patience with his mispronouncing.

I remember Hermione dated a peer of hers, Neville Longbottom. He seems like a good person, kind and gentle, but he’s a pushover. He’s scared of me! All I have to do is stare at him and he gets all nervous and jittery.

Hermione needs a guy with some backbone.

Ernie Macmillan isn’t a pushover, but he sure is pompous. Always bragging and acting like he’s a bigshot just because he was Mr. Prefect!

I am so glad Hermione dropped him after one date!

It may seem like Hermione dated a lot, but not really. These were the only guys.

She dated Ron, Viktor and Ernie during the school years at Hogwarts and Neville the year after she graduated. And they lasted at most a month.

Hermione didn’t prioritize dating at the top of her list. It was always school or work that came first. Then family and friends (that includes me).

I didn’t really want some bonehead butting into our lives. But it’s not like I wanted Hermione to be a spinster. I wouldn’t have minded if she had gone for that gentle, mild-mannered man, Remus Lupin or my good old pal Snuffles. I really liked that Snuffles fellow, but him and Remus are too old.

*sigh*

If only they were younger.

The only other person I would accept as my companion’s lover would be Harry.

But that boy was so clueless.

I think at one point I lost hope. Especially when she was dating that pushover Longbottom. Fortunately, I scared him away.

I mean, it’s so obvious that they love each other. They just didn’t know it.

I was hoping that someday down the line, they would wake up and realize their feelings.

They did. Eventually. It took them long enough too.

I think it was the only positive thing that came out of Hermione dating that Longbottom fellow.

And I like Harry. He’s certainly better than Longbottom and Ron.

He’s brave, strong, modest and smart. He pronounces Hermione’s name correctly. And He doesn’t push me off Hermione’s lap to snog her. He actually would just cuddle next to her and scratch my head. I then would scamper off to let the two have some privacy to snog or do some other hormonal deed.

He made her happy and that makes me happy.

***

I remember their wedding. Hermione had woken up late and was scurrying about to get ready.

She put on her white gown and make up. She did her hair. Ginny and Molly Weasley fussed over her to make her look perfect.

They even made me wear a black bow. I restrained myself from biting them, seeing it was Hermione’s special day. But I gave Ginny and Molly some good scratches.

I remember standing in awe watching my owner. She was a bit teary, probably thinking about her parents who died a few years back from the Great War, but she looked beautiful.

I sat in the very front pew, where Hermione’s parents would have been sitting. As I sat, I watched Harry and Hermione come down the aisle, arm in arm, looking so happy and so much in love.

They exchanged their vows to one another and slipped on the wedding rings. When they kissed, one of the Weasley twins, I think Fred, let out a whoop and all the guys started cheering and catcalling at the couple. Of course this led to the twins being scolded by Molly.

I’m just relieved Hermione didn’t marry one of those loud redheads.

***

I am thankful that I can spend my last years with such a loving family. It’s weird to look back and recall how it all started. How Hermione and I met and how our family grew and expanded.

You’d think with my dislike for kids, I wouldn’t be pleased living with them, but you’re wrong.

When little James Potter was born to Hermione and Harry, he wasn’t just a joy to the parents, but to me as well.

Little James was the carbon copy of his father. He loved Quidditch and flying. He was a bit hyperactive, but he never pulled on tail or squeezed me too hard. In fact, he was so sympathetic of me when Hermione put me on a diet, that he would sneak me some of his cookies. I love him more just for that.

Little Sirius was a little more mischievous and a prankster, but he loved to chase lawn gnomes with me. We’d always de-gnome the garden or the Weasley’s garden when we went to visit them. And he’s only pulled on my tail once.

Little James and Sirius were great kids and loved me, but Little Lily was my favorite. She’s very much like Hermione, with her bushy brown hair and fondness for reading. She’s also very compassionate like Hermione and took very good care of me and the other household pets.

I remember when she was 10 and playing in the yard.

I was running away from one of Ron’s offspring, Artie. He was trying to tie a bow my tail and I had bit him.

I scampered into the bushes when I heard Lily’s voice.

“Arthur Weasley! Leave Crookshanks alone!”

“That monster bit me!” Artie protested, waving his injured hand in front of her. I meowed at my accomplishment.

“Well it serves you right! Stop pestering him!” scolded Lily.

“But he bit me!”

“Well, if you bother him again, I’ll bite you!” threatened Lily.

Artie grumbled and stomped away. “Stupid, ugly fleabag.”

Lily just glowered at him and crawled by the bushes.

“Crookshanks, you can come out now.”

I crept out of the bushes, and into Lily arms.

“Don’t listen to Artie, Crookshanks” she said while stroking me. “You’re not stupid. And you don’t have fleas”

I just snuggled into her lap

“And I think you’re gorgeous too. You’re much handsomer than Artie” She added.

I mewed in agreement and fell asleep in her lap.

***

Yes, my life has been great. But I guess all good things have to come to an end.

Now that all the kids are older and off at Hogwarts, the house is quiet and lonely. Hermione and Harry have work and so I’m usually by myself at home.

Lily wanted to take me to Hogwarts with her, but Hermione disapproved. I would have loved to go with her, but I was getting old and I wasn’t as active as I used to be. Plus with my fading eyesight and arthritis, I would have been more of a burden than a joy. Besides I really can’t handle other kids.

Most of the day, for me, is spent in the living room taking naps. I noticed these days that I have less and less energy and it’s harder to move about the house. I haven’t de-knomed the garden in months.

Hermione has noticed this and seems worried. But it has to end at some point, right? I mean, I’ve lived a long, happy life with a loving family. I’m just glad Hermione has Harry and the children after I’m gone.

Plus it’ll be nice to leave this old body and start what that old man Dumbledore calls ‘the next great adventure’. I’m tired of the aches and pains. It’ll be a relief to be free from it all. The only bad thing is that I will be leaving Hermione and her family. I don’t want them to be sad after I leave. I’m not sad; I’m relieved and thankful.

I’m so thankful to have spent a life with a beautiful, young, compassionate, intelligent owner who made me apart of her life and adventures. She has made me feel wanted, loved, special and gorgeous.

And for that, I will be forever grateful.

The End

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AN: I’m sorry, but I couldn’t think of more creative names for the children. Constructive criticism is always appreciated! ^^