Hermione Granger sat alone in the Griffindor common room. It was past midnight, but she didn't care. Instead she stared at the fire and stroked the purring thing in her lap.
It was two months after Crookshanks had died in the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid found his body in the dark and brought him home. Hermione buried him near Dumbledore's tomb. Crying.
Harry and Ron noticed a change in Hermione ever since Crookshanks death. She became more withdrawn. And the tiniest reminder of her cat would send her to tears.
Hermione sat in the common room and remembered her sweet cat. Her tears had stopped flowing, but the dried marks stained her cheeks. She stared at the fire remembering the day she first got Crookshanks. And all her adventures since.
The thing in her lap purred again, and Hermione looked down at it. Realizing that she had something new to care for. She stroked its spine gently and it stretched in pleasure. Silently she lifted it into her arms and carried it upstairs to her dorm.
Lavender and Pavarti were fast asleep. Hermione walked past them to her bed.
"Goodnight my sweet." She told the thing in her hand.
…and placed the purring Monster book of Monsters at the foot of her bed.
Grieving.