Sky full of stars {Harry Potter Fanfiction}

22. Dementors on a train

"Oh," said Harry. "and I was hoping for a quiet year!"

Him being so calm and understanding made me cry more. Through hiccuppy tears I managed to explain to my friends about Dad saying 'He's at Hogwarts' in his sleep, and how even my mother was suspicious that he was after Harry.

"Why would he be after Harry?" Ron asked, handing me the new ice-cream he'd bought me.

I shrugged. "Sasha said he always asked about Harry... I think something's snapped in him, he's obsessed with getting Harry whatever the cost. I think—I think whether he killed those people or not... He's gone mad."

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged a look and I realised—that maybe, just maybe, I was on the right track. Maybe Sasha was right... sometimes it was a bad thing to be trusting.

After Harry assured me that he didn't hold a grudge against me because of my crazy father, Hermione suggested we go to the pet shop. She claimed it was because she wanted a new owl out of her birthday money—but I suspected she also wanted to cheer me up.

"I'm glad we're here," Ron said as we approached the pet store. He pulled a skinny rat out of his pocket. "Scabbers has been looking off colour... I want to see if there's some medicine for him here."

Scabbers the rat had gotten very thin during our trip to Egypt, and I feared that he would probably die soon. For as much as Ron joked about Scabbers being useless, he did love him immensely.

In the pet shop, the witch behind the counter tried to palm off a shiny new rat for Ron, which he refused.

"I'll take the rat tonic instead," he said, digging around in his pocket for spare change. "How much—OW!"

A large ginger shape leapt from a cage on a high table, using Ron's head as a springboard before leaping with claws out at Scabbers, whom the witch was holding.

"NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!" cried the witch, but Scabbers shot from between her hands like small rocket, sprinting out of the door.

"Scabbers!" Ron cried. He tore out of the shop, Ron following.

I stayed with Hermione as the witch wrestled Crookshanks off the desk and onto the floor. It was an odd cat, with a squished-in face, as if he'd taken the wrong wall at King's Cross. But as he plopped on the floor, he stared up at us with huge amber eyes.

"He's kind of cute," I said.

As if he heard me, Crookshanks wound himself around my legs purring. He let out a little squeak as he saw Hermione, winding himself tightly around her calves purring as loud as a car engine.

"Ooh!" Hermione exclaimed, and gently picked him up. Crookshanks melted into her, his flattened face almost smiling. "How much is he?"

The witch looked stunned. "He doesn't usually let people pick him up! He must really like you!"

"He's lovely," Hermione confessed, tickling Crookshanks behind the ears. "Why hasn't he been sold before?"

"People like pretty pets," the witch shrugged. "We still can't sell black cats very well, people are so superstitious about them being unlucky..."

With Hermione being enamoured with Crookshanks, I got her purse out of her bag and paid the witch for the magnificent cat.

Crookshanks gave us a very steady look as we exited the shop, almost as if he was thanking the both of us for choosing him. Something told me this cat was more intelligent than your regular cat.

**

Harry and Ron hated Crookshanks, as to be expected. But it was true that animals improved moods, as that evening in the Leaky Cauldron I had both Crookshanks and Sooty fighting for my attention.