Angry Parents and Lost Cats

Rating: G

Summary: Hermione experiences tough times: her parents have a fight and Crookshanks goes missing.

DISCLAIMER Yes, yes, the disclaimer. Ho, hum. So boring. Feel free to skip over this section if you like, but if this is the first story of mine that you've read, please listen (or read, it doesn't really matter to me) carefully:

I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters, etc. That just belongs to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. However, the storyline belongs to me. Thank you again for being so patient.

CHAPTER 1: Trouble for Hermione

"Good morning, Harry," Hermione murmured absentmindedly, plunking down at the Gryffindor table.

It was the morning of another new day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Fine, don't say good morning to me, why don't you," Ron mumbled, grinning.

"Oh.. sorry, Ron." Hermione didn't seem to care.

"Does Hermione seem… different to you?" Harry whispered to Ron.

"Yeah. She seems normal."

"No," Harry shoved his friend playfully. "I mean she seems like she's distracted,"

"Reckon it's a test of some kind," the Weasley boy didn't seem interested.

"Yeah…" Harry turned back to his toast.

That day in Transfiguration, Hermione didn't answer any of Professor McGonagall's questions.

"Who can tell me why we study how to turn birds into fountain pens?" she scanned the room for the usual hand, flailing wildly. She didn't see it. "Miss Granger, are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine, Professor," Hermione replied automatically. She didn't look fine, though. Her hair was matted and her eyes were watery.

"Well… Miss Brown, would you please escort Miss Granger to the hospital wing? I'm sure she's caught that cold that's been going around." Lavender stood up and gently guided Hermione out the door and down the corridor.

"Ron, you've got to admit," Harry leaned across the table to his friend. "Hermione is definitely not normal."

"I s'pose you're right," Ron agreed. "But we'll have time to go visit her in the hospital wing after lunch."

"Right," Harry agreed.

Directly after wolfing down their food, Harry and Ron seized their bags and tore up to the hospital wing. When they got there, Madam Pomfrey stopped them.

"Miss Granger isn't ready for visitors quite yet," she said sternly. "It appears she has a bad case of depression."

"Madam Pomfrey, you don't understand," Harry cut in. "We're really concerned about how she's doing."

"I'm sorry Mr. Potter, but Miss Granger needs all the rest she can get right now. After all, her parents had that horrible fight, and… oh dear, I promised I would keep that information private. Run along, boys, and forget what I told you."

"But Madam Pomfrey…"

"OUT!"

The door slammed in the boys' faces. From downstairs, Ron heard a loud thundering.

"Lunch must be over," he concluded. "We better go --- Defense Against the Dark Arts is gonna start."

That night, Ron and Harry stayed up late talking in front of the common room fireplace.

"We've got to see Hermione," Harry said. "If that's true about what Madam Pomfrey said – about her parents having that fight, she's probably not feeling too good."

"Right," Ron agreed. "There's no way I can get all the answers for that Charms test tomorrow with her being so moody."

"I think this is a good time to put the Invisibility Cloak to good use again." Harry suggested.

"All right then. Let's wait until one, then we'll sneak up to the hospital wing."

"Hermione!"

The young witch awoke with a start. She could have sworn she heard someone whispering her name.

"Hermione!"

Suddenly, two shapes that looked like Harry and Ron appeared. Hermione rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"Harry! Ron!" she hissed. "What are you two doing here? I told Madam Pomfrey I needed some rest, and it's…" she stole a glance at the bedside clock. "…one in the morning! I demand an explanation."

"Sorry to wake you and stuff," Ron began. "but we had to see you. We, uh… we found out about your parents."

"Now who told you that?" Hermione asked heatedly. "Was it Lavender? I made her swear not to tell anyone!"

"Actually, it was Madam Pomfrey," Harry spoke up. "But that's beside the point. We want to know exactly what's going on."

"Oh, I know you mean well," the witch quieted down. "But it's just… well, I'll tell you. It was just over the holiday, you know how I went home to spend Christmas with my parents this year?"

"Yeah," Ron and Harry answered together.

"It was Christmas Eve, and my parents were cleaning up the kitchen together. All of a sudden, they just got angry at eachother. My mother even broke a plate because she was so mad. I came back here the day after Christmas because I couldn't stand to see them fight like that anymore."

The young witch stopped speaking. Harry and Ron's eyes were glued to her clouded ones.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed, wiping tears away. "It's just that they've never fought like this before, and I'm scared they… they might split up," This last phrase was too much for Hermione. She buried her tearful face in the pillow, sobbing.

"There there, Hermione," Ron slowly reached out a hand and gently patted her shoulder. "I'm sure things'll turn out," suddenly aware of what he was doing, he yanked his hand back as if a fuzzy bunny had just bitten his index finger off.

"Of course they will," Harry reassured her. "Nobody's parents split up after a single argument."

Hermione dried her eyes on her sleeve. "Thanks, Harry. Thanks Ron. I suppose you're right." She managed a weak smile. "I'll tell Madam Pomfrey I'm ready to come back to class tomorrow. Oh, and one more thing,"

"What?"

"Could you go and get Crookshanks for me? I've missed him so much. He should be in the common room."

"Sure, Hermione," The two wizards chorused. They slipped the magical cloak back over their bodies and stole back up the marble staircase to the Gryffindor common room.

"Password?" the fat lady in pink asked.

"Beetle eyes," recited Ron.

"Correct," and she swung forward to admit them. After climbing through the portrait hole, Harry and Ron dropped the cloak onto one of the overstuffed armchairs in front of the fireplace.

"Can you believe she's making us get that bloody cat?" Ron had developed a strong disliking for Crookshanks on the day Hermione had bought him.

"Yeah," Harry answered from behind one of the armchairs, where he was on his hands and knees. "but you know he means a lot to Hermione, and she's not in the greatest mood right now."

"Oh, all right," Ron said defeated, dropping beside Harry. "But I'm not doing it for her, I'm doing it for the sake of my Charms grade."

After twenty minutes of fruitless searching, Crookshanks was nowhere to be found.

"Well, it looks like we can't find that cat after all," Ron beamed, dusting off his pants. "Maybe he got into a fight with Mrs. Norris and lost… but I mustn't get my hopes up…"

Harry suppressed a laugh, and after pulling the cloak over himself and Ron, they returned to the hospital wing to give Hermione the news.

A.N. So, this concludes the first chapter of my second story! YIPPEE! Please continue for some more lovely Hermione angst.