A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters

A huge thank you to my betas

This is for THC/The Houses Competition

House: Hufflepuff

Class: Muggle Studies

Category: Drabble

Prompt(s): [Dialogue] "Leave the cat alone."

Word Count: 618

"Leave the cat alone," Hermione commented, noticing how Hugo was currently creeping down the stairs. She knew Crookshanks was sleeping in the sunroom, he spent most of the days there napping in the warmth.

"I wasn't going to do anything to the cat," Hugo lied. Hermione raised an eyebrow as could see him crossing his fingers behind his back.

"Right, you weren't planning on grabbing Crookshanks, taking him upstairs, to where Rose and Lily are waiting, to be a guest at their tea party?" Hermione asked, looking at her son.

"Wait! How-" Hugo started to ask, his brown eyes blown wide at the fact she had guessed his plans so precisely.

"Hugo, how many times has Rose tried to make Crookshanks attend one of her tea parties?"

"I dunno," Hugo shrugged. He was telling the truth at that time. He had honestly never bothered to actually count the times they had tried to make the cat a part of their parties.

"Exactly. Now, leave the cat alone. He does not want to sit in one of the chairs, have Rose and Lily put bows in his hair, or drink tea," Hermione pointed out.

"But we've got the good tea this time, Mum!" Hugo exclaimed, smiling widely. Hermione could see the gap where he'd recently lost one of his baby teeth.

"And what makes the good tea better than the usual tea?" Hermione asked absently, wondering if they'd raided the cabinets again. She was pretty sure she hadn't heard them in the kitchen, but Rose was getting a lot better about moving around silently.

"Pos'tive thinking!" Hugo explained. "You have to believe it's better than usual because it's in fancier cups. Also, Lily brought a thing of biscuits she filched from James, so we've even got proper biscuits and not those sugar-free things you claim are biscuits."

"They're better for your teeth," Hermione stated, knowing she could never actually win an argument about which biscuits tasted better. "Wait, Lily stole biscuits from James?"

"Maybe, um, I've got to get back," Hugo said quickly, trying not to look like he'd blurted out a huge secret.

"Right, well, Rose's room is still upstairs, not to the left. I already told you to leave the cat alone and if you're not going to listen, I can ground you to your room all day, or worse, I could make you go outside and play," Hermione threatened, knowing sending Hugo to stay in his room wasn't really a punishment. The boy had more books than he could ever read in a single day, and that combined with the fact he loved to read made keeping him in his room a rubbish punishment.

"Anything but outside!" Hugo exclaimed. "James said he saw a mosquito the size of a cat and it'll carry me off!"

"Hugo, how many times have I told you not to believe most of what James tells you?"

"Um, I dunno," Hugo shrugged. "He's older and knows things."

"He likes pranks and making things up. Now, go on back to your tea party, tell Rose and Lily that Crookshanks had an important meeting he couldn't get out of and therefore could not attend their tea party," Hermione said, nodding towards upstairs. Hugo gave her a smile before darting off up the stairs, taking them two at a time to deliver the important message about why the cat was not going to attend. Hermione shook her head, leaned back in her chair, and glanced at the ginger ball of fur who was still currently napping happily in the afternoon sun.

"You're lucky, you know that?" she asked him. He lazily opened his eyes, gave her a knowing look, and went back to sleep.