—Written for The Twitter Competition (set 3); The Dance Competition (medieval); The Lottery Competition (#s 21, 34, 35, 37, 49); Greek Mythology Mega Prompt Challenge (Atlas); Harry Potter Chapter Competition (Cat, Rat, Dog); Pick a Card, Any Card Challenge (Three of Clubs); A Variety of Prompts Challenge [170 available prompts] (quote, writing style, HP related words, relationship); The Lolita Challenge (F.i.n.t.); All Those Characters Challenge (Sirius Black); As Much As You Can Competition; FanFicWriMo Challenge—

[i]A cat. How odd.

Concealed in his Animagus form, Sirius blinked up at the orange feline watching him from the castle's windowsill. [ii]Meanwhile, Crookshanks gazed back at the matted dog, observing the canine as it moved to find a better angle. It let out a sharp bark, [iii]looking to scare away the other animal, but the ginger pet simply adjusted its position to sprawl behind the lightly-frosted glass.

[iv]They passed each other again a week later, this time in Hogsmeade where the former-Black was taking refuge temporarily.

'This cat...'

[v]Perching himself on a bin, Crookshanks released a meow and began to casually groom his fur. Still in a dog body, Sirius just watched. [vi]The oversized-kitty left eventually, but not before tipping over a small box. Its acquaintance yipped a warning; that's when he saw a half-chewed banana spill out from the cardboard prison. Ravenous, the Marauder lunged, only to be batted away by a clawed paw – [vii] Crookshanks reeled in the junk food, and it was then that Sirius noticed that it was speared by a syringe.

'Just my luck...'

[viii]However, that didn't derail his flat-faced buddy: the furball extracted the needle with his pointed fangs and tossed it away, carving [ix]out the green dot that had leaked onto the skin. It separated the layers, flicking off dirt and checking for other signs of liquid [x]before pushing the soft pale fruit towards his partner. Stunned out of wonder, but immensely hungry, Sirius wolfed up [xi]the meal. When he looked up again, his companion had disappeared.

Their third encounter was after Harry's Quidditch match – he flew [xii]so much like James, like his father, that Sirius almost swore that he had been pulled back to his own days at Hogwarts with Remus and [xiii]James and-

He froze. Remus and James. Himself and Remus and James. Padfoot, Moony, Prongs and Wormtail. That left...

'...Peter.'

[xiv]Curled up on a tattered bed, rumbling with purrs, Crookshanks delicately nursed his tail as one of his owner's teachers entered the [xv]fight. Hermione, Ron and Harry didn't seem to understand the situation at present, but they would soon enough. When Sirius's hand [xvi]descended upon his ruffled head, he leaned into the calloused touch against his adopter's will. All in due time.

The two had been [xvii]trading meetings for weeks, maybe even months now, swapping information regarding their joint enemy. The rat was a hazard to Hermione[xviii], and if he happened to be a threat to his friend's godson, then it was essentially striking two birds with one stone. Crookshanks [xix]frowned at the peculiar scent that swirled around the human-vermin, hissing quietly in the general direction of the man before [xx]settling again.

Himself, a dog-man, and a rat-man; all of them became connected because of a single scar-headed boy.

...How odd.

(Word count: 500)

*Chosen prompts: write about two close friends; wonder, castle, fight, hunger, banana; alternatively, write about Sirius Black; alternatively, write about Crookshanks; alternatively, write about Sirius Black; 'You and I are a team. There's nothing more important than our friendship', third person narrative, Quidditch, platonic; write about finding something unexpectedly*

A/N: I prefer this style as opposed to the previous ones, although I worry that the roman numerals might disturb it greatly. The even word count was purely accidental but aesthetically pleasing~ I have quite a sizeable amount of homework that is distracting me, however, so please excuse me *curtsy*

My dog Derry is now in a better place, but thank you to everyone who gave her their blessings :)