Just a random little one-shot that popped into my head. Okay, very random one-shot. If anyone's read my main story, Girl, Eleven, Demanding a ReSort, you'll recognize Kate, my OC. If not, I suggest you should go read it, otherwise a lot of this won't make sense. It takes place in her third year, hence all the Sirius Black references. I originally planned to have this in my main story, but I wanted to write it down before the thought escaped.

I've noticed that a lot of Hogwarts students don't get homesick. In canon, this is perfectly understandable, seeing as it's from mostly Harry's POV and Hogwarts is better than the place he left. But a lot of 'normal' OCs seem just ready to skip off to Hogwarts without looking back, save for a few owls to home every once in a while when they remember to write. But, I mean, even students going off to college (18+) feel some degree of homesickness, so I figure, why not give it a shot?

Dedicated to my cousin, who happens to be going off to college next month. Also, to everone who still has a childhood possesion with a memory locked away, somewhere (I know I do. It's a stuffed dog :)

I do not own Harry Potter.

A word of advice for future Hogwarts students: Never let your older sister help you pack.

"Fortuna Major," Percy says, and the Fat Lady swings open to reveal the Gryffindor common room. Home sweet home, you could say. We all step inside quickly. The first years are right on our heels, and no one really feels like being run over by a crowd of nervous eleven-year olds.

People are whispering elatedly, the news about Sirius Black causing many people to seem very jumpy and anxious. But that doesn't stop the start of term excitement. It feels great to be back, no matter what going on in the world.

I grin and head towards the spiraling staircase that leads to the girl's dorm, skipping up the stairs, taking each one at a time, two at a time, three at a time, until I nearly fall and Hermione cries reproachfully, "Kate! You're going to hurt yourself!"

One I reach the door, I quickly open it up and sprint to my bed, ready to throw myself on top of the covers just to feel it sink under me like it always does. It feels so good to be back, especially after three months with my irritable mother.

I lay back and look up at the ceiling, where I have put up Muggle glow-in-the-dark stars that I had gotten for my twelfth birthday last year. It makes me grin again, a feeling of happiness that is hard to contain, so I roll over to look towards my fellow roommates.

Lavender is currently unpacking, pushing a few boxes under her bed and pulling out her pajamas to get ready to go to sleep. Looking around, I realize everyone's doing that. Hermione's stacking books right next to her bed, Parvati is fiddling with some kind of crystal ball thing that she bought for our Divination classes this year. Not wanting to be left out, I roll off of my bed, landing on the floor with a 'thump', and make my way to my trunk.

Liana had insisted on helping me pack, saying since this was her last year, she owed it to me to make sure I would have the best year ever. It seemed suspicious at the time, but now I'm really grateful, as pulling out my books and robes are much easier when they're neatly folded and stacked.

Suddenly, Lavender lets out a squeal. "Oooh, what's that?"

She's pointing to something sticking out of the corner of my trunk, a fluffy, tattered white ear of something. Without warning, Lavender gives it a tug, and out of my possessions come a ragged old stuffed bunny.

My ragged old stuffed bunny.

…

WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME IS THAT DOING HERE?

Parvati lets out a giggle, and takes the bunny from Lavender, holding it at an arm's length as she examines its button eyes. "It's cute, but you should take better care of it, Kate. I mean, this ear is nearly torn off," She gestures to the left ear, which is hanging in tatters like a dog decided it would make an excellent chew toy.

Hermione, curious, comes over from her side of the room to join in on the conversation. "I could sew that for you if you want to, my mother's been teaching me," She offers.

"What? No!" I shout, before realizing what I'm saying. "I, um, I mean, give that back!" I make a grab for the bunny but Parvati quickly pulls it out of reach.

"What's his name?" She giggles, and I can tell my face must be as red as a strawberry. I'm thirteen years old, for the love of Merlin, but somehow that stuffed bunny got into my luggage. HOW?

…

Liana.

I quickly turn to my trunk, and dig around until my hand brushes a tiny slip of paper. Pulling it out, I see Liana's tidy little handwriting.

I found Sir Fluffington in the attic. I thought you might miss him, so I decided to pack him for you. Hope he cheers you up.

Love,

Lia

…I swear, I am going to sic Sirius Black on her.

Lavender reads the note over my shoulder, before bursting out laughing. "Sir Fluffington? That is so sweet!"

I scowl, and rip the note up. What does she think I am, five? I turn back to Parvati and Hermione, who now has Fluffington in her hands and is heading towards the door. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"Just going to go show Harry and Ron," Hermione says with a little smile on her face. I swear, she can be downright scary when she wants to be.

"Don't you dare," I start, but she's already out the door, and I have no choice but to sprint down after her. By the time I'm halfway down the stairs, she's already got half of the common room's attention.

"Look at this," She holds out Sir Fluffington to Harry and Ron, who are accompanied by Fred and George. "Lavender found it in Kate's luggage. Isn't it cute?"

"Er…" Harry isn't exactly sure of what to make of this strange turn of events, but Ron bursts out laughing when he sees my pale, angry face.

"It's not an 'it'," I snap, snatching the bunny away from Hermione's grasp. "His name is Sir Fluffington." This makes Ron laughs even harder.

"Sir Fluffington?" he chokes, wiping away tears of mirth. "Has he always had that name?"

"I named him when I was five!"

"You should have named him Hoppy Potter," Parvati quips from behind me, obviously having followed me down the stairs. This causes the entire group to chuckle again, and me to scowl and hug Sir Fluffington closer to my chest.

"You could always show this to Malfoy, I'm sure he'd laugh himself to death," Fred offers, and even I crack a smile at that thought. This is less embarrassing than I thought. Okay, yes, it's embarrassing, but also funny.

Just as long as they're laughing with me, not at me.

"But seriously, what happened to it?" Hermione asks, lifting one of the shredded ears. "It looks like it was run over by a truck."

"Five years in an attic, gnawed on by rats, dusty and rotted away, it's a miracle my mum didn't throw it away before," I shrug, taking a closer look at Sir Fluffington for the first time. His ear is rather ragged, and one of his eyes look like it's barely hanging on by a thread. His once pristine white coat is now dull and old, and stuffing is peeking through the seam. Once upon a time, he used to sit in the front window of a Muggle toy store.

I was five, and Liana was ten. Liana had dragged me down to the local Muggle town because it was Mum's time of month again or whatever. Anyway, she was in one of her 'moods', and rather than hanging around the house to be yelled at (and this was way back when Mum still actually loved me), Liana decided to take a small excursion. I remember it was a really hot day. I was holding onto the Liana' s sleeve, tugging every time I saw something I wanted.

We had been walking around for about half an hour when we passed by a Muggle toyshop. They had train sets and dolls and any other kind of Muggle toy you could imagine. Liana passed by it without a second glance, but I stopped to look at this beautiful little white bunny, sitting with it's little pink nose pressed up to the glass.

I tugged on Liana's sleeve. "Lia, I want that!" I had said, pointing at the window. She stopped to look for a moment, before scoffing.

"No, Kate, you have plenty of other better toys at home. Ones that aren't made by Muggles." She tried to walk away, but my grip was firm for a five-year old.

"Lia, pleeeeeease? It says it smells like strawberries!" I begged, trying out my puppy-dog eyes. She looked at me for second, debating a few minutes of interruption versus a full-blown temper tantrum. Finally, deciding to choose the first one, she walked determinedly towards the window, her mouth set in a firm line.

I looked up, confused. "Lia, we have to go into the store and buy it, silly," I giggled, swinging my arm connected with hers. But she just continued to stare at her reflection in the glass, concentrating. "Lia?"

"Shhh…" She whispered suddenly, looking around. Confident that we weren't being watched, she reached a hand towards the glass, slowly inching towards her reflection. I waited, expecting her hand to hit the smooth glass, but it never came. Her hand slid smoothly through the glass, and her hand wrapped around the bunny, pulling it out of the window and plopping it into my arms.

I stared at my sister in awe. That was magic, like what mummy and daddy could do. I didn't know that Lia had no control over her magic anyway, and she just happened to be lucky. At that moment, my older sister was the most amazing person alive.

I hugged the bunny close to my chest and breathed in the strawberry scent of its fur. Even the stuffed animal seemed magic that day.

Liana led me away from the shop and back home, telling me that this would be our secret and not to tell Mum. I thought back then it was because she wanted to have a special secret with me. Now I know it's because she knew she would get in trouble with Mum for stealing a Muggle toy.

Now I stare back into those same button eyes, only they don't sparkle like they used to. I put him up in the attic when I turned eleven, the summer before I went to Hogwarts for the first time. Thought I was so grown-up.

"Alright, who wants it?" I hold it up in the air above my head. "Can I get five Sickles, five Sickles?"

Ron starts to raise his hand, probably as a joke, but Hermione stomps on his foot before he can bid, and she looks at me, concerned. "Don't you want to keep it?"

"Uh…no." I shrug. "I'm thirteen, I can't keep this old thing. D'you think Ginny'd want it?"

George shakes his head. "Nah, she outgrew teddy bears when she was nine. Besides, it isn't that bad."

"Just needs a bit of fixing," Fred agrees, and pulls out his wand. Tapping the bunny, he says, "Reparo," and the ear begins to stitch itself back together, the stuffing disappearing behind the tightening thread. "There, good as new."

"I. Don't. Want. It." I repeat, but no one seems to want to take it. Hermione, Harry, and Ron have no use for it. Lavender seems faintly interested, being one of those kinds of girls, but decides not to take it at the last moment. Parvati wants nothing to do with it, and in the end I find myself trudging up to the girl's dorm in a huff alone without saying goodnight to anyone.

I pull open the door and slam it behind me, walking over to the bed and lying on my stomach, holding out Sir Fluffington in front of me. One thing that hasn't changed about him is that pink nose. It's still as bright and clear as ever since that day it was pressed up against the glass of that Muggle shop.

I scoff, and toss it across the room, where it settles behind Hermione's nightstand. I roll over onto my back and stare up at the glow-in-the-dark stars, but they're not quite as bright as before. Not quite as bright as the ones at home, at least. When I was nine and Lia came home for the Easter holidays, I made her stay up til midnight, just so I wouldn't miss a single second with her. Coincidentally, it was that night that she tried to convince me to grow up and stop dragging Sir Fluffington around with me everywhere.

…

…

…

I get up and walk over to the other side of the room and pick up the bunny, bringing it back over to my bed and sitting down with it in my lap. I stare at it, and it stares back.

Okay, that last sentence was rather creepy. But still.

When I wake up, the room is dark, and I can hear the gentle snores of my roommates. I had somehow fallen asleep on top of the covers, and no one decided to wake me up.

Sir Fluffington is tucked in the crook of my arm, his ear flopping over his button eyes. I yawn, remembering I have class tomorrow, and curl up to fall back asleep. I'm too tired to think of ways to get rid of the bunny tonight.

The fur is just as soft as I remember it, and I bring the stuffed animal up to my face and breathe in.

Funny. After all these years, it still smells like strawberries.

Thank you for reading! Please review and tell me what you think! Also, check out my other story, Girl, Eleven, Demanding a ReSort! It'll give you an even better idea of Kate's character.

Also, look for Sir Fluffington in future chapters!

Mischief Managed!