Elsi: I'm really, really sorry about this. Want to know why?

Trek: Sure you do. It's because Elsi really doesn't like this chapter.

Elsi: It was really boring for me. FORGIVE ME!

Trek: Uh...right. Elsi doesn't own Harry Potter. Cool?

Kitten

Fifteen-year-old Lucy Weasley pulled her sweater tight around her as she stepped out into the freezing cold. Snow whipped around her, pulling her hair in all different directions. Shutting the door of Three Broomsticks behind her, she tried to think about warm butterbeer and crackling fire instead of freezing ice and screaming blizzard. It didn't work.

Not in the least bit surprised, Lucy began to make her way up to the castle. She tried to ignore the looks of other students as she passed; their whispers, however, reached her. Lucy rolled her eyes the third time she heard the words "no" and "friends" in one sentence. Of course she had friends…they were just drinking bottle after bottle of firewhiskey at that moment. It would have been terrible for her to stay, even if they promised to give her a fun time.

Lucy shivered at the thought of what 'fun time' meant to them. That drunk, they were probably having a good shag with some random guy twice their age. Lucy shuddered, for there had been plenty of men in there who looked ready to take the virginity of some drunk student. She was glad she had gotten out of there.

A tiny sound broke through the blizzard, making Lucy stop dead in her tracks. What was that? It sounded like the teeniest wailing. Lucy shielded her eyes and looked around. There! A tiny blot of color stuck out from the cold – a cardboard box. Crossing over to the box, Lucy peered inside to find a tiny grey kitten, covered in frost and screeching its tiny lungs out.

At once, Lucy's heart melted. She reached out to touch the kitten and found it completely covered in snow. The tiny cat opened its eyes and looked up at her, and Lucy made a few soothing noises before it stopped yelling. Concerned for the tiny creature, Lucy took off her scarf and wrapped the kitten in it, leaving only its tiny head sticking out of the bundle. She cradled the kitten close to her and continued up to the castle, hoping there would be someone there that could take it, because she already had a pet.

Lucy stepped into Hogwarts and at once marched upstairs to the Gryffindor common room, where she released the kitten to sit by the fire. It gave a tiny mew and curled up next to Lucy still, shivering. Running a finger over it, Lucy realized that if she had found the kitten two minutes later, it would be dead.

"Who can take it?" she asked herself out loud, attracting the attention of a few seventh years. Not her friends: they were too busy doing who knows what, and plus, they would throw the kitten out because they were so drunk. She couldn't take it to her Lily, either: Lily wouldn't be able to care for a kitten. So who else could she go to?

Then it hit her in a blinding second: the sweet boy in her year, the Hufflepuff, the one who she had met in Diagon Alley at just seven years old. What was his name? Lucy grinned: Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.

Standing up, Lucy picked up the kitten in her scarf again, bundling it into her sweater so it wouldn't look too suspicious. She knew the way to the Hufflepuff Commons well: Lily and Rose used to take her there so they could scare various Hufflepuff first years. Lucy started along the all-too-familiar path before it hit her: Scorpius wasn't there. No, she had asked him earlier. He was in the library!

Once again, Lucy turned around, startling her tiny burden. She picked up the pace now, scrambling down staircases and along corridors until she halted at the entrance to the library. Lucy gently set the kitten down at the entrance: she would get in so much trouble if there was an animal in the library.

"Scorpius!" she called quietly, walking along the shelves. "Scorpius Malfoy?"

"Yes?" From around the corner came Scorpius, levitating a stack of books behind him. "Oh. Hi."

"Hi. I…er…I need to ask you a favor." How was one to go about this?

"Okay," agreed Scorpius. "Help me put my books away."

"Actually," Lucy countered, thinking of the kitten. "I'll meet you outside. What I need to ask you about is waiting there."

"Okay…"

The kitten hadn't moved when Lucy got back, much to her relief. And sense no one had noticed it, she assumed it hadn't made much noise, either. There Lucy waited until Scorpius came out of the library with his bag slung across his bag.

"Alright, what did you need to- is that a kitten?"

"Yeah…" trailed Lucy. "I found her on the way back from Hogsmeade, but…I can't keep her."

"Why did you bring her, then?"

"I couldn't just leave her!" cried Lucy, her eyes going wide. "I was hoping you could take care of her…because you're such a good person." Scorpius hesitated for a long moment, staring at the tiny bundle of fur in Lucy's hands. At last, his shoulders dropped and he gave in.

"Oh, alright," he agreed with a sigh. "Bring her to the Common Room, and I'll find her a place to stay."

"Thank you!" cried Lucy, overcome with delight. As they walked back, Lucy explained the whole situation to him, not failing to mention even her thoughts about where her friends where. Scorpius didn't say much, which didn't surprise her. He rarely spoke in class, and he rarely spoke when she talked to him. She didn't even realize where they were until Scorpius sat down on his bed, making Lucy jerk awake. Gently, she lowered the kitten onto the bed and took the scarf away. With a mrow of surprise, she curled her tiny claws into the bedding and fell asleep.

"I guess she is pretty cute," admitted Scorpius. "I'll be happy to keep her."

"That's wonderful!" declared Lucy. "Thank you!" She swooped in and kissed him on the cheek before prancing away, her red hair flying behind her.

Scorpius watched her go without a word, knowing that he had flushed a dark shade of pink. He glanced down at the tiny kitten on his bed and smiled again.

"I think I'll name you…Lucy," he said to her, "For the girl I fell in love with when I was seven." And though he knew the cat couldn't hear him, he could swear that Lucy purred.

Elsi: Well, that was slightly annoying, wasn't it? Yeah, I know.

Trek: See you next time!

Elsi: Hold it, Trekkers. Hey, everyone? Can you pretty please review? Because this is getting like...three hundred hits in ten days. So...can I have one? Pretty please? With steak on top?