Disclaimer: I don't own anything. No copyright infringements intended!

Written for the'Daily Prompts From the Mods'-Challenge of HPFFC-Forum. (This was originally intended to be only a drabble – but I enjoyed writing about Argus and Mrs. Norris so much I had to spend a little more time and effort on them! I'm even considering writing more fics about them...)

My cat looks exactly like Mrs. Norris in the movie... but he's really more of a Garfield-kind-of-guy in temper. ;) However I thought... well, why not write something bout Mrs Norris once... I will upload a picture of my cat – you'll see, it's amazing how closely he resembles her!

Characters: Argus filch/Mrs Norris

Words: 649

16th August - Prompt: Happy Birthday(I like the prompt, my birthday is on September 16th – in 11 days! ;D )

A beastly good Friend

Mrs. Norris was breathing deeply while she couched on top of the old cupboard in Filch' room. Lazily the cat blinked dramatically, the tip of her tail twitching from side to side.

As Filch walked in he looked worn and somehow even... sad. Titling her head Mrs Norris made a noise which sounded like a high-pitched 'brrrpt?' and her eyes went round with anticipation reminding Argus of the ragged kitten she had been once. Ever since he'd found her starving small body on streets of London, left to die they were inseparable. However he had been the one to take care of her and most probably saved her from a slow and painful death he needed her just as much. This cat was his dearest friend... and maybe the only true friend he ever had. She was his confident and he'd trust her with his life.

Very slowly Mrs. Norris got up, stretched her back luxuriously carving her claws into the rotten wood of the cupboard before she jumped down in a liquid motion. Purring tenderly she pushed her little head against Argus' leg. Stiffly bending down the man picked her up and mumbled something under his breath.

The day had been quite stressful. Some students had played evil tricks on him and neither he nor Mrs. Norris had caught them. Later that day one of those brats had used a forbidden item in the great hall and whatever it had been, it had left a horrible mess with no one to clean it up but Argus.

It was Thursday... and it was Argus' birthday.

He never cared for his birthday and certainly didn't want any of those people sing for him or something like that... but however it would have been nice if someone had at least wished him a 'happy birthday'. He didn't blame them for not doing it. None of them even knew his birthday was today, though actually that was something he could have blamed them for. But he wouldn't. No, he would prepare himself for bed, turn off the lights and fall asleep. He'd be alone forever and it didn't even bother him that much.

As soon as Filch lay in the sheets staring at the ceiling he began to muse about his life. What was he even living for? He was all alone... sure, there was Irma, but he never dared to speak to her directly. He was quite sure she was just defending him in front of others because she simply felt somewhat sorry for him, or because she was overly correct. Even if she would be willing to get romantically involved with him, he wouldn't really want her to anyway. He adored her, however after all he was too much of a lone wolf and he knew it.

For about three more minutes Filch just lay outstretched on his bed and kept thinking his life over. "Nobody remembers my birthday – so what! ...I'm alone... and I don't care!", he whispered stubbornly to himself. Just then he felt the weight of a body landing on the blanket that covered his legs. As he threw a glance down, he faced the brightly yellow glowing eyes of Mrs. Norris. The cat slowly approached his face and for a seemingly endless moment the two of them stared into each other's eyes.

As if she'd been reading his mind Mrs. Norris made 'prrrbt?' again and lovingly, almost painfully her frown connected with Argus' jaw as if to say, 'I didn't forget. Happy Birthday'. Suddenly the old caretaker had to chuckle at his own silly thoughts. Caressing his cat's small head he sighed, "How could I ever think I was alone? ...you'll always remember, won't you?"

And before finally drifting off to sleep with his purring cat pushing her paws into his chest, her claws tenderly picking on the fabric of his shirt Filch whispered, "...Thank you"

~*~Fin~*~

I didn't put any description of Mrs. Norris other than of her eyes into this, but for reason. The Mrs. Norris from the movies is very different from the one in the books – so you can picture her this way or that, whatever you think fits best. And though I usually like the book's description better I love the Mrs. Norris from the movies (because she looks so much like my cat and he's such a sweet and always-super-cool thing! ;) )