Once again, I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this at the moment.

She woke early the next morning and sat perched outside the door that leads to upstairs. She waited patiently for Loraine Florence, the owner of Magical Menagerie, to come down the stairs dressed in her tattered robes, her big black spectacles, and placing on the last touches of putting on her fire proof gloves. As if on time, Loraine came thumping down the stairs and she stepped back as the door opened. She looked up at Loraine and meowed. Loraine looked down at her from behind her spectacles, and smiled. "Good morning, Crookshanks." She walked away, leaving the door open, and the ginger cat climbed up the stairs.

One last glance at the door, she transfigured into her human form and stretched. She then opened up the door leading into Loraine's apartment above the shop, and closed it quietly behind her. With a wave of her wand, she casted a silencing spell over the place, smiling to herself.

It was routine. A daily thing that she did. Loraine, being as busy as she was each day taking care of all the animals, she tend to leave Crookshanks alone, leaving her time to use the shower.

The hot water washed over her body, her scratches burning at the touch. She knew the life that she was living wasn't much of a life but her very first memory was of herself living at an orphanage. She didn't live much of a life up until she started school at Hogwarts, and the days she had all seven years with her friends were ones she'll never trade in. She stood there under the water longer than normal, enjoying the sensation as her mind traced to the days where she spent her nights talking to Lily, her days spent studying with Remus, and her free time practicing Quidditch with James and Sirius.

If someone asked her back then if she was going tell her in her last year that after six years she was going to be living her life as a cat, she wouldn't have believed them. But here she was. Being a witch, and out in a world where she is the only friend that seems to be left, she didn't want to be. She turned the water off, her body dripping wet as she stepped out of the shower. Hesitantly, she placed her dirty robes back on and suddenly heard a noise on the other side of the door.

Biting her lower lip, she opened the bathroom door slightly and peered around the corner to see Loraine fussing around in the kitchen, looking for something. Quickly, she transformed back into her cat form and stepped out from behind the bathroom door and ran through the living room, past the kitchen and down the stairs without being noticed. Just as she walked through the door, she saw a wizard in shaggy black hair make his way towards the shop. She sprinted to the door, and as the wizard entered – she dashed out and sprinted to the nearest ally way, which was deserted. She transformed back into her human form and made her way into the street, walking down Diagon Alley towards a white tower building. She entered the golden doors, her wand gripped tightly in her hand. She stopped midway to take in her surroundings.

It's been so long since she's been here; she never had a reason to. But looking down at her robes, tattered and washed way to many times, she knew she needed a new pair. Not that it mattered much. Being in cat form doesn't present you with many clothing options, but nevertheless..

"Mum, I've told you I don't need it –"

"Please, dear, for your birthday. Your father and I would like for you to buy yourself something nice…"

"But we've just gotten back from France and…"

"We don't want to hear another word, Hermione. Now, how much is ten galleons?"

"What do you suppose a galleon is Hermen?"

"I'm not sure… Lilly, do you know?"

"No, Dad, I've only just learned I'm a wtich…"

"Excuse me? Miss? Do you know what a galleon is compared to pounds?"

"Excuse me? Miss? Do you know how many pounds is to a galleon?"

She brought herself to reality, struck by the fact that she was being spoken to. She smiled at the couple, whom was obviously not familiar with the wizarding world and then looked down at the girl, who had thick, bushy brown hair and kind eyes.

"I think it's five pounds, sir," she smiled at him before she turned to come face to face with a girl, whose auburn hair went past her shoulders and emerald green eyes sparked. "Hi! I'm Liana Harris. I'll just be starting at Hogwarts. You?"

The girl was quiet for a moment, before she finally spoke. "Y-yes. I'm Lillian Evans."

"Nice to meet you. I hope we'll be in the same house as one another! It'll be nice to have a friend."

"House?" Lily asked, confused. "What do you mean by 'house'?"

"Oh, are you muggle born?"

"Muggle?"

"From a non-magical family..."

"Oh, then, yeah, I suppose I am."

"I have so much to tell you, then! Let's go for ice cream, huh?"

"It's five pounds to a galleon, sir," she nodded at him. "So, if you'll be giving her ten galleons, it'll be fifty pounds."

"Oh, thanks!" The girl's mother sounded enthusiastic, obviously fascinated by everything around her. From the small, mean looking goblins, to the witches and wizards dressed different than them. "We're still trying to get used to everything…"

"That's okay, ma'am, my best mate was muggle born. Took her parents a bit of time to get used to it all…" she looked down at the girl, and smiled. "Any idea on what you'll be getting?"

"Haven't decided yet," the girl shrugged, but she was beaming. "I think maybe an owl. My two best friend's each have one and I think their magnificent!"

She frowned a little, but nodded. "Owls are very useful but I always found cats to be very loyal," she turned to the girl's parents and smiled at them. "Well, I hope the goblins don't still scare you. Their mean, but you get used to them. Good day," she nodded at them, tipping her witch's hat at them before walking away, feeling like she's just had déjà vu.

She stepped into her vault as soon as the goblin opened the door, and sighed looking inside. She came from a wealthy family, and being the only family member left she inherited the fortune of the Harris family. With school in the past and no current income, her vault was getting lower and lower by the minute. She bit her bottom lip and scooped up a few knuts, sickles, and three galleons into a pouch before stepping away, and letting the goblin lock the door.

She walked out of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, feeling a little bit better now that she was wearing brand new robes. She knew Madam Malkin all too well, for she helped her buy different robes all the time while in school. Years later, though, her age was beginning to show, and her memory has seem to be fading. "Are you here visiting, dear? I don't recall meeting you before…"

She guessed that was a good thing, though. People would be questioning where she's been if anyone seemed to recognize her. She's just passed Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, making her way towards the Leaky Cauldron when she heard a familiar voice from one of the outside tables. She stepped up off the street and near the Parlour, pretending to be interested in an old sign.

She wasn't quite sure why she felt the need to listen, but she had an interest in this girl ever since she saw her at Gringotts.

"Where do you suppose he is?" The girl asked.

"Don't suppose you think he's at the Quidditch shop?"

She looked around the sign to see that the girl was sitting at a table with a boy who had ginger hair and worn down clothes.

"I suppose," the girl said, taking a bite out of her ice cream. When she looked up, she kicked the boy underneath the table and pointed to another boy across the street.

It took all of her power not to gasp as to who it was she saw. It was a boy who looked almost identical to James Potter.

"Harry! HARRY!" The boy yelled, causing the other boy with unruly black hair look in their direction. She saw him instantly smile, and walk over to them.

"Harry… Potter…" she breathed, her heart pounding against her chest. She was trying hard not to cry as she took in how much he looked like his father, a smile tugging at her lips when she saw how … happy the boy was.

"Finally!" The boy exclaimed as he grinned at his friend. "We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you'd left…"

She stood there, listening intently on their conversation, completely intrigued by the trio. She learned that the girl's name was Hermione and the red haired boy was Ron. She listened closely to Harry talking about how he blew up his aunt (she was slightly disappointed to hear it wasn't Petunia) and how he had got off the hook.

He sounded just like James.

"I tell you, I don't know why Mum got so mad…"

"It's not like we did it on purpose…"

"You still used magic underage!" Lily yelled at the two boys, who didn't seem sorry at all by the fact that they blew up a garden gnome. "Honestly, I'm surprised you two didn't get expelled."

"Sirius and I are too good looking to be expelled," James grinned at Lilly. "You should now that."

Suddenly, as if her cat instincts had kicked in, she focused in on the boy named Ron.

"All I've got is Scabbers," he pulled a lump out of his pocket and placed it on the table. She was suddenly hit with a familiar smell, and her eyes focused intently on what looked like a very sick rat. "And I want to get him checked over. I don't think Egypt agreed with him."

"There's a magical creature shop over there," she heard Harry say, but didn't remove her eyes from the sleeping rat. There was something oddly strange… "You could see if they got anything for Scabbers, and Hermione can get her owl."

She watched as the boy picked up the rat, placing him back in his pocket, and saw that all three of them were getting ready to leave. With bright eyes, she made sure no one was watching before she transformed back into her cat form and sprinted for the Magical Menagerie, where she realized all three were heading. She dashed past a wizard who was entering the Menagerie and jumped on the counter by Loraine, who frowned down at her.

"Shoo, Crookshanks. You know better than to be up here when I've got a customer."

She wanted to make sure she got a good view of the counter, so she looked around before she decided to jump up on to one of the empty cages hanging from the ceiling. She kept her eyes on the glass windows and watched as the three children came around and opened the door, the bell ringing to indicate a new customer had arrived.

She crouched low, her tail wagging fiercely as she kept her eyes on Ron.

She watched as Loraine finished helping the wizard, and then call on the next group to help them.

"It's my rat," Ron spoke with a slight concern. "He's been a bit off color ever since I brought him back from Egypt."

"Bang him on the counter," Loraine directed as she placed her big, black spectacles over her eyes.

She watched as Ron pulled the rat out from his pocket and placed him on the table. She didn't take her eyes off the rat.

"How old is he?" Loraine asked, looking over the rat.

"Don't know. Quite old, I think. He used to belong to my brother."

"What powers does he have?" Loraine asked as she began to examine the rain, moving his body from side to side, looking at his ears. Then his paws…

She hissed. He was missing his front toe.

"He's been through the mill, this one," Loraine tutted. "An ordinary common or garden rat such as this can't be expected to live longer than three years. You might be interested in these…"

She clawed at the cage, her body now furious. This Scabbers… it was Peter. She was sure of it. After all these years… he's been hiding as someone's pet.

"If you don't want a replacement, you can try this rat tonic…"

She couldn't take it anymore, and she dived for the rat. Her aim was a little off as she landed on top of Ron's head, before she turned her attention to Loraine's hands, which gripped a now squealing rat trying to break free. She hissed, and then pounced at Loraine, who dropped the rat on to the floor. Instantly, Crookshanks targeted herself to the running rat, who was going for the door…

"NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!" Loraine yelled, taking hold of her with difficulty. She watched as Ron and Harry chased after the dirty rat, and meowed in rag with not being able to run after him.

"How much is he?"

She was too shocked to comprehend the fact that she was mistaken for a male.

"What?"

Obviously, so was Loraine.

"Crookshanks, you called him? How much?"

"Oh, well… are you sure, dear?" Loraine asked, slowly letting go of her.

"Oh, yes," Hermione smiled up at Loraine, and reached out, petting her.

"Oh, I suppose… five galleons?"

"Is that all? Really?" Hermione asked.

She wanted to bite Loraine right then. Only five galleons? After all these years they spent together…

"He's cause quite chaos around here, no one's wanted him." Loraine sighed as grabbed Hermione's golden tokens. "Your friend's forgotten his rat tonic. You'll bring it to him, wont you?"

Hermione beamed and grabbed the rat tonic, placing it in her pocket as she held out her arms.

Crookshanks gladly jumped into Hermione's arms, purring. Someone's finally bought her.

And isn't it ironic, really, how it so happens to be the friend of Peter's owner?

Author's Note: It's not often where I'll refer to Crookshanks by Crookshanks, but at times where I find it's difficult to determine if I'm writing about the cat or about another character, I will. If you haven't guessed already, Crookshanks real name is Liana Harris, but seldom will you hear her be called that in this story. Adios, Tricia