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"Hurry up, Neville!" Ginny said impatiently, looking over her shoulder.

"I'm trying!" panted Neville. "You know I can't walk that fast, Ginny!"

Ginny, Luna, and Neville had just come out of Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop and were supposed to meet Harry, Ron, and Hermione at the Three Broomsticks. And they were already late.

"Come on, Neville!" Ginny cried.

"You know, we wouldn't have to hurry if Luna hadn't held us up!" snapped the round-faced young wizard.

"I was trying to find a quill that doesn't attract Voglans," Luna explained. Neville opened his mouth to ask what Voglans were but then thought better of it.

They had almost reached the Three Broomsticks when Luna suddenly stopped in her tracks, causing Ginny to bump into her and Neville to bump into Ginny. "Now what?!" demanded the redhead.

Luna said nothing; she simply pointed to their left, where a black kitten with white paws was lying just off the side of the road. The Ravenclaw walked toward it and gently picked it up, examining it closely.

"She's hurt," Luna said softly, pointing at the kitten's right front leg which was bent at an odd angle. Ginny and Neville came over to get a closer look.

"Poor thing," said Ginny. "What are we going to do?"

"We should find Hagrid," Luna answered. "He can nurse her back to health."

"But aren't we supposed to be meeting Harry, Ron, and Hermione now?" asked Neville.

"We can't just leave this kitten on her own, Neville," Luna told him. "I'm sure they'll understand." No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the Golden Trio came out of the Three Broomsticks.

"Where the bloody hell have you three been?!" demanded Ron.

"No time to explain," replied Ginny. "Listen, have you seen Hagrid?" When Harry pointed behind him with his thumb, Ginny said, "Luna, Neville, you two stay here; I'll go get him." She dashed into the bar and came out a minute later with the large man following closely behind.

"I found this kitten just off the side of the road," Luna explained, holding the kitten out to Hagrid. "She's injured quite badly."

Hagrid took a moment to look the kitten over before saying, "Yep. She's in a righ' state. Tell yeh what - we'll go back up ter me hut, an' I'll see wha' I can do."

As the group made their way out of Hogsmeade, Luna reached out a hand and gently petted the kitten. "Don't worry, kitty. You'll feel better in no time." To Hagrid she added, "I had a cat when I was little, you know. I named him Newt, after Newt Scamamder."

"Did yeh, now?" replied Hagrid. "Wha' happened ter him?"

"Oh, I had to give him up after he fell in love with a female cat," said Luna conversationally.

Once they'd reached Hagrid's hut, the half-giant gently placed the kitten on the table. "Now why don't you lot get back up ter the castle, an' I should have this kitten as good as new termorrow."

"Thank you, Hagrid," said Luna as she and the others made their way to the castle.

The next day, just before lunch, Luna was inspecting the seventh-floor corridor for Wrackspurts when she heard Harry's voice. "Hey - Luna!"

"Oh, hello, Harry," she said dreamily.

"Hagrid asked me to give you this." Harry handed the Ravenclaw a note with three words: She's all better.

The two of them rushed to Hagrid's hut, where the half-giant greeted them with a smile.

"Well," he said, gesturing toward the kitten, "there she is, all patched up." The creature immediately scampered up to Luna and rubbed herself against the blonde girl's legs, purring.

"Looks like she's taken a fancy ter yeh, Luna," Hagrid said, beaming.

"Thank you, Hagrid, for taking care of her," said Luna as she and Harry walked back up to the castle.

"So what're you going to do with her?" asked Harry.

"Well, as Matilda doesn't have any tags, I don't know for sure if she had owners or not," replied Luna, "but if she did, they obviously couldn't be bothered to care for her properly. I think I'll keep her."

"Matilda?" repeated Harry.

"She looks like a Matilda to me."

They had reached the entrance hall when Ginny came down the stairs. "Hi, Harry. Hi, Luna. Isn't that the kitten we found yesterday?"

Luna nodded. "Ginny, meet my new pet, Matilda Lovegood."