"Here, crooksie crooksie crooksie..." Hermione said beguilingly, dangling a stinky anchovy from her hand. She wasn't sure where Crookshanks had gotten off to this time, only that this year, he'd decided that her room was no longer nearly as entertaining, and was often nowhere to be found. She didn't want him and Filch's pet cat getting into a fight (or making babies), she just wanted her kitty kept safe and happy in her room.
But where was Crookshanks? Had he gotten more adventurous than putting his bottlebrush tail over Ron's nose (causing ron to wake up with a case of the sneezes?).
She'd been all up and down Gryffindor Tower, and now, her only hope was Ravenclaw Tower - that her wayward pet had developed more of a fascination with chasing birds, and was currently lurking up on a windowsill or ledge.
If Crooksie had decided to chase rats, however - well, that didn't bear thinking about. Not until Hermione had looked everywhere else. Perhaps she could get Harry to use the Marauder's Map...
But if she could find her familiar on her own, she wanted to do that. So, the call went up, in lonely dusty hallways and cluttered with students corridors, "Crookshanks! Crooksie Crooksie Crooks!"
It was around the fiftieth corridor that she had tried. She was on her hands and knees, waving an anchovy into a small hole in the wall...
"Not that I don't think that position suits your muddy blood, Granger, but what exactly are you doing there?" Pansy Parkinson drawled arrogantly.
"Looking for Crookshanks..." Hermione said, diverting a minimal amount of attention to the Slytherin.
She didn't realize her mistake until Pansy's pointed, painted fingernails were physically turning her head towards Pansy's painted face. The sheer gall and arrogance! "Who, or what, is a Crookshanks?"
"My familiar. A cat with the newfound tendency to wander." Hermione grit out, just wanting the Slytherin to go away.
Because she was so busy searching for her cat, she didn't see Pansy crease her mouth into a troubled frown, or the hurried pace at which she lept away from that particular corridor.
[a/n: Da-da-duh! What's going on, now? Guesses welcome, reviews moreso!]