A/N: PLEASE READ ME! I have slightly altered the last chapter at the very end, since I thought Draco was just a tad OOC. You don't need to read it if you don't want to, but just letting you know (:
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"You finished?" Hermione asked, and Draco nodded. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a proper meal with his parents. The last time he had... He didn't even want to remember now. He didn't want to sully the one good meal he'd already had. Draco watched Hermione open a contraption filled with racks.

"What's that?" Draco asked. Hermione looked up and gestured for him to come over.

"I'll show you." She replied, and Draco came over to crouch next to her. "It's called a dishwasher. Give you any clues?" Draco looked at her.

"Washes dishes?"

"Yep," she nodded, and then pointed to the very bottom. "When I close it and turn it on, it sprays high pressured water from here, and various other places." She looked over to see if Draco was following. She then closed the door and pointed at the buttons on the front. "On here, you can change the strength of the water. You can just rinse the dishes, medium wash it, or give it a full-blow clean."

"Interesting." Draco said in a monotone. Hermione rolled her eyes, and put the plates and cutlery in. As soon as she snapped the dishwasher shut, a loud meowing cracked into the quiet atmosphere. Hermione stood up with shining eyes and ran into the hallway, with Draco following wondering what the hell had made that noise.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione gushed, and her ginger cat gave a loud purr in response, his pupils dilated to the point where his squashed in face almost looked cute. She instantly scooped him up, cradling him in her arms. Draco cleared his throat from behind her, and she spun around.

"I never knew you had a cat." He said, regarding Crookshanks. Crookshanks looked right back at him. Hermione shrugged, and then walked over carefully, Before taking a deep breath.

"Crookshanks, meet Draco Malfoy. Draco, meet Crookshanks." Draco nodded at the cat. Crookshanks regarded him, wrinkled his nose and gave a low meow in greeting. Hermione looked at Draco with large eyes. He looked back at her confusedly.

"What?" Draco asked.

"It's just..." She said, and then looked down at Crookshanks, who nuzzled her neck. She looked back up Draco. "Crookshanks usually doesn't like people. In the least, he scratches them as soon as they arrive through the front door."

"Maybe it's because I have a cat too?" Draco suggested, shrugging. Hermione looked at him with surprise.

"You have a cat?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah... Why?" He asked back. Hermione shrugged, keeping careful not to jostle Crookshanks.

"You never seemed like a cat person to me. Shouldn't you have a... Like a snake or something? Slytherin pride and all." She finished grinning. Draco leant on the wall and crossed his arms.

"I used to, when I was young. I don't know what happened to that one." He said. Hermione shivered. "The cat wasn't me. It was more of an impulse buy from my mother. I have no idea why a cat of all things. And then she forced me to take care of it." Hermione stroked Crookshanks.

"So what's his name?" Hermione asked, looking up.

"Her." Draco corrected. Hermione blanched, and Draco looked at her. "What now?"

"Her?" She asked, "I mean, I thought you were chauvinistic and all. Why buy a female?" Draco tutted.

"Didn't I say? It was my mother who bought the cat. My father's in Azkaban, remember?" Draco finished, and Hermione looked down at Crookshanks instantly, nodding slowly. She felt a light touch on her arm, and she looked up. Draco was in front of her.

"Hey, it's fine. No need to pity me." He said quietly, yet in a light tone.

"I wasn't pitying you." Hermione replied in a small voice. Draco ran a hand through his hair, and Hermione watched some of it fall into Draco's eyes.

"Well, good. This has made me who I am today hasn't it?" Draco said, and Hermione wondered where he was going with this. He sent her long, slow smirk. "Don't you think I've turned out pretty good?" He finished, gesturing to his good looks, richness and popularity. Hermione looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You have too much ego." She stated bluntly. Draco chuckled, and she looked at him again. "You never answered my question. What's your cat's name?"

"Cassia." He replied. Hermione smiled, instantly liking the name.

"So, do you..." She said, and looked up at Draco who was holding her eyes in a stare. She cleared her throat, looking back into Draco's eyes. "Do you want to... To... hold Crookshanks?" She finished, and Draco blinked, breaking the stare. Hermione wondered why he was looking at her anyway.

"Hold him? What if he scratches my face off?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, if he hasn't already, you can pretty much guarantee he likes you. Now hold your arms out." Before Draco knew it, he was holding Crookshanks. The cat stared up at him, almost searching his face, before he simply curled up and sat in the crook of Draco's arm. Draco looked down at him, and back at Hermione who was grinning.

"What're you so happy about?" He asked, carefully manoeuvring his arms into a more comfortable position. Crookshanks grunted.

"It's just..." She said, and her face was overcome with another grin. Draco was instantly reminded of how much better she looked smiling. "It's so unusual seeing you and my cat together. I mean, I would've thought he'd hate you."

"Well, that's nice of you, isn't it?" Draco said, smiling sarcastically. He looked down to the ginger cat in his arms and cautiously stroked his head, sliding his hand under the chin and tickling it.

"Wow, you even know how to stroke him properly." Hermione said in surprise. Draco looked up.

"I do have a cat, remember?" He said, but a smile took away the spite of the words. His face was overcome with a frown. "I was meaning to ask you, but where're your parents?" Hermione crossed her arms.

"They told me at the start of the year that they had some business in Australia. But I don't know what would be so important, since they're dentists." She replied.

"Dentists?" Draco asked, looking confused. Hermione sighed.

"They fix people's teeth." She replied.

"Wow, people actually have jobs for that?" Draco asked, quirking an eyebrow. Hermione nodded.

"And they're good at it, mind you Although, I think they could've meant a vacation." She said. Crookshanks shifted to wrap his tail around himself.

"But them being away..." Draco said, referring back to their absences. "I mean, two teenagers in a house alone. Aren't they scared I might..."

"Try something?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow. "Come on Draco, they know me better than that. And plus, they trust the school." She replied, shrugging. Without warning, Crookshanks suddenly stood up in Draco's arms. He looked at Hermione in alarm, and then back to the ginger cat. Crookshanks looked at him with unreadable eyes, before his head tilted up, and he licked Draco's cheek.

"Ewww!" Draco said, but he was laughing, as he tried to handle Crookshanks in one hand, and wipe his cheek with the other. Hermione laughed with him, and then looked at the unusual pair in front of her. Seeing Crookshanks and Draco together, and getting along, was weird, but cute at the same time. Wait, cute?

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A/N: I'm sorry for the shorter chapter! I kind of wanted to make a sole chapter of Crookshanks meeting Draco. I really enjoyed writing this, as well as the slow progression between Hermione and Draco. Originally, I've never thought of Draco as a cat person, but I really wanted to make the two of them have one unusual thing in common. I'm a total cat lover. ^-^ Are you enjoying it so far?