In her kneazle Animagus form Freddie made her way up out of the dungeons with Ziggy trotting along behind her. They used a small hidden tunnel to bypass the staircase out of the dungeons to the Entrance Hall. She paused in the doorway of the Great Hall where just a handful of students remained at the breakfast tables. She sniffed the air with her mouth open, trying to catch Ada's scent. Ziggy pounced playfully on her tail and she flicked it away from him.

"Play mum," came the simplistic thought from the young kneazle. "Fun."

She could feel his intense love for her as well as how excited he was to be spending time with her in her kneazle form. She purred and gave him an affectionate lick, telling herself that she would make time to play with him later, after she made sure Ada was alright.

Not now, she told Ziggy with a tinge of regret, pushing her thoughts at him. Play later. Looking for Ada. For friend.

"Friend?" Ziggy thought and she picked up on his excitement. He let out a loud meow and bounded towards the Grand Staircase that led to the higher levels of Hogwarts castle. "Ziggy friend."

Is Ada up there? She wondered, following him towards the stairs. She couldn't catch her friend's scent, too many people had passed through there this morning, but she figured maybe Ziggy's senses were stronger than hers since he was a natural animal and not an Animagus.

She followed him up a second staircase, wondering what Ada would be doing up in the castle with Madame Maxime. Maybe they had gone to Dumbledore's office? The third staircase started to move as they were ascending and Ziggy froze.

"Magic, Mum," he told her, brushing his tail against her reassuringly.

I know, she told him, amused. Where's Ada?

When the staircase stopped moving Ziggy shot off like a light and this time it was Freddie bounding after him, wondering where her kitten was going. She lost count of the number of stairways they ascended, but suddenly Ziggy stopped and meowed again loudly. She could feel his excitement and his little body was trembling with happiness when suddenly another cat came round the corner of a corridor and approached them. She was a large, ginger-colored cat with striped legs and a squashed face. Freddie thought the cat looked familiar, but couldn't place her.

Who are you? She wondered as the cat observed her with strangely intelligent eyes. Do you belong to a student? ...You're not an Animagus, are you?

"Ziggy friend," her little kneazle said proudly, brushing up against the ginger cat and purring loudly. She could feel strong affection coming from him towards this cat, whoever she was. "Love friend."

Alright, she's your friend, Freddie thought with an amused chuckle that turned into a purr. But who is she?

The fluffy orange cat sniffed Freddie interestedly, her bottle-brush tail touching Ziggy as she inspected her.

"Human," came the thought, but not from Ziggy – from the ginger cat! Freddie gasped and felt the fur on her back stand up. She'd spent a lot of time in her Animagus form over the years but she'd never picked up on words from other animals like she did Ziggy.

What?! Who are you? What are you? Can you understand me? Freddie asked, pushing her thoughts at the cat. But the cat didn't answer and didn't seem interested in her anymore, just brushed against Ziggy with palpable feelings of affection.

"Crookshanks hungry," the cat thought after a minute. She brushed her head under Ziggy's chin, flicked her tail at Freddie, then headed back down the corridor.

Wait, Freddie thought and the cat seemed to pause for a minute, but then continued on. Freddie and Ziggy followed her. Crookshanks? Is that your name? Who are you?

"Crookshanks," the cat repeated without stopping.

"Crookshanks, there you are!" said a loud voice and Freddie froze as a bushy-haired teenage girl emerged from an opening behind a portrait. She scooped up the ginger cat and kissed her furry head.

"Are you hungry Crookshanks?" she asked her in a baby voice. "Come on my sweet girl. Let's go find Harry and Ron, they're still at breakfast I – oh! Hello there."

The fur on Freddie's neck prickled at the girl spoke to her and she realized she knew exactly who this was. She'd seen her before in Snape's memories. The 'insufferable know-it-all Gryffindor girl' who was friends with Harry Potter – this was Hermione Granger!

"You're kneazles, aren't you?" Granger asked smartly and Freddie just stared at her. "I've read all about them. I wonder who you belong to? Not any of the Gryffindor girls, that's for sure."

Freddie grabbed Ziggy by the scruff of his neck and pulled him back towards the staircase, leaving a crestfallen Hermione Granger holding Crookshanks like a baby.

"Ow mum!" Ziggy protested, twisting in her grip and swatting at her with his claws sheathed.

Come on, Ziggy, let's go, she said, releasing him. She could sense his annoyance and disappointment but still he followed her back down the staircases. She wanted to get out of there before Granger came down looking for Potter and saw them again.

Freddie didn't slow down until they reached the Entrance Hall where she spared a moment for a curious glance into the Great Hall. She could see the black-haired boy sitting at the Gryffindor table, pushing food around his plate disinterestedly. He looked tense and more than a little sad.

He's been through a lot the last few days, she thought, feeling bad for the Boy-Who-Lived. She imagined he'd been excited about the Triwizard Tournament, even though he hadn't been supposed to compete in the first place, and to have it end the way it did – seeing the Dark Lord returned, Cedric Diggory murdered, and almost being killed himself. It was enough to break just about anyone. She was impressed he was even in the Great Hall at all – when Daniel had disappeared she'd avoided the place as much as she could.

Her ears picked up the sound of footsteps coming down the Grand Staircase and Freddie quickly resumed her trek outside. She didn't stop again until she and Ziggy were safely on Hogwarts grounds.

You just had to be friends with a Gryffindor cat, she thought with a groan, giving Ziggy a few swift licks to let him know she wasn't mad at him. And of all the Gryffindor cats it had to be that one. Crookshanks... Why does that name sound so familiar?

She paced slowly away from the castle, wracking her brain. Had Snape ever mentioned Granger's cat before? She didn't think so. But where else would she have heard about a cat named Crookshanks? Then it hit her – her friend Matt in Diagon Alley! Matt owned a pet shop called Magical Menagerie. The first time she'd visited the shop she'd seen the fluffy ginger cat in the window and tried to pet her. She'd seen her there several times throughout the years until last year when Matt told her Crookshanks had finally been adopted by a young witch.

Guess that answers that, she thought to herself. She spied the Beauxbatons carriage ahead and suddenly remembered what it was she was supposed to be doing – looking for Ada!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, so, I completely forgot that Crookshanks is supposed to be a boy? And I didn't realize until after I had written this. Because I just really like the idea of Ziggy having a Gryffindor playmate that's a girl, I'm gonna leave Crookshanks a girl. Hopefully it doesn't bother anyone too much lol

Also shout out to the one person who has been reviewing so far, BlueEyedPisces. It makes me so happy to know that someone is enjoying my story still even after I disappeared for over a year. 3 Thanks for reading!

~RPP