7 This Isn't What it Looks Like! '...Nice." [Edited]

"Crookshaaaaaaanks. Why do you keep leaving me?" Whined a slightly delirious Hermione as she grabbed her cat off of her best friends head and pulled him into a hug.

"Do you like Harry more than me? Why do you keep hanging out with him now? Did I do something wrong? Is it because I don't play with you anymore? I'm sorry, I can try to make some more time for you, just please don't leave." She slurred out, hugging Crookshanks so hard that he felt his circulation cut off.

She had stopped sleeping entirely for three days straight (or four counting time turner time) so she could study, and while she was just a zombie at first, she has slowly lost her mind over the past day, especially after one of her roommates thought it would be funny to give her alcohol. And since she was already having a hard time telling left from right, she just drank it without question. Now she sounded like a drunk idiot whenever she talked, and she acted like one to.

"Hermione, Crookshanks probably doesn't like the constant time traveling you are doing, maybe if you slowed down a bit and rested once in a while, he might spend more time with you." Harry explained calmly, knowing full well that his Sensei didn't approve of her constant use of the time turner. Apparently his sensei hated the concept of time manipulation in any form. Harry didn't know why, but he had a theory that it had to do with the powerful enemy he fought that had 'humbled' him.

"NO! I am perfectly fine! You're just being selfish!" She emphasized her point by poking Crookshanks in the eye.

'OW! That fucking HURT!' The feline yowled and tried to escape in vain.

"What? Ho-" Harry was about to ask, oblivious to his Sensei's pain.

"You have Hedwig! Why don't you let her sit on your head instead? You just don't want me to have my familiar!" She asked heatedly as she hugged her cat close to her, squeezing Crookshanks so hard that he made squeaking sounds that a cat had no business making.

'*Groan*' Crookshanks started to feel light headed.

"Hermione, if I tried to make Hedwig sit on my head or even hug me she would claw my eyes out, but not before she took a shit in my hair." Harry rubbed his temples, not noticing his Sensei's face turning blue due to all of the fur.

"You can't get your eyes clawed out! You have glasses!" She stated matter-of-factly.

"*Sigh*, I swear to Merlin I am going to kill Lavender." Harry muttered under his breath in exasperation.

Crookshanks didn't hear anything else though, as he was far to busy trying to stay conscious.

"Come on Hermione, lets get you to bed. You get to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow and you need to be sane enough to tell me about it." Harry took her hand and tried to lead her toward her dorm, but she just shook it off and sat on the couch.

"But I want to go there with you though!" She whined like toddler.

"Hermione, you know I can't go with you since my relatives didn't sign the permission slip." Harry sighed patiently.

"*Gasp* Those assholes!" Hermione cursed and squeezed the closest thing to her out of rage. Poor Crookshanks.

Harry was caught off guard by her cursing, once again failing to notice his Sensei's quiet pleas for help.

"It's fine Hermione. But what's not fine is that your still awake, now go to bed!" Harry tried demanding, hoping that might get through to her.

"No!" She said in a childish tone, crossing her arms.

Crookshanks could see a white light.

"Fine then. I'm sorry Hermione but you leave me no choice. I can't allow you to keep torturing yourself like this." Harry said in defeat and snapped his finger's, knocking his friend out with a wandless stupefy.

'*VIOLENT INHALE* *Cough* *Cough* Good job Harry *cough*, could have helped out a little sooner *Cough*, but whatever, now help me out of here!' Crookshanks called from under his masters hunched over body.

"Right!" Harry hurried over to help, but hesitated.

'What are you doing? Hurry up!' The cat demanded, still struggling to free himself from unconscious Hermione's iron grip.

"B-But, I can't touch her without asking first! Especially when she's unconscious. That's inappropriate!" Harry said as he retreated a bit.

His Sensei stopped struggling, blinking as he tried to understand what his student just said. 'Are you serious right now?' He deadpanned.

"Of course! I apologize Sensei, but I can't do that to her! I refuse!" Harry stated with absolute seriousness.

'Oh my god.' The cat groaned out, wanting to bang his head against a wall, but was left unable to do even that.

'Look Harry, I know you have your morals and all, but are seriously going to just let your best friend sleep on the couch?' Crookshanks asked, doing his best to not sound desperate.

"O-Of course not Sensei! But... what should I do then?" Harry mumbled the last part.

'Oh, I don't know, why don't you carry her back to her room?' The cat said sarcastically.

"I can't, the stairs are charmed to keep boys out." Harry said dejectedly.

'Ooh, is this a shipping opportunity?' Crookshanks thought. 'Are the boys dorms charmed against girls?' He asked.

"No, at least I don't think so." Harry said, his eyes widening a bit when he realized where this was going.

'Sexist-ass stairs.' Crookshanks grinned, 'Alright then, I guess you'll just have to bring her up to your bed then, won't you?'

"Of course Sensei! I haven't mastered my Patronus yet and spending the night in the forest would be great training! I can always count on you to come up with the best training methods!" Harry finished after jumping to his conclusion.

'Yes, of course... training.' Crookshanks replied, trying to suppress his annoyance at the kid.

"..."

'...'

"..."

'Well? Are you going to move her?' Crookshanks asked after noticing that nothing was happening.

"Oh, no. I already told you, I will not touch her without her permission!" Harry stated simply.

'...'

"..."

'*Inhale* *Exhale* Well then how are you going to move her then?' The cat managed to ask through his grit teeth.

"Oh! Right! Hold on, give me a second." He said, and for another moment nothing happened.

But then, out of nowhere, Crookshanks and his master were covered in a green light and lifted off the floor. The feline blinked upon seeing his student, who was currently surrounded in a flowing green aura and had his eyes locked on the two of them in concentration.

'Wha-What the fuck?' Crookshanks asked, trying and failing to keep the confusion out of his voice upon seeing the familiar sight.

"Do you like it Sensei? I've been working on it for a week now. When you told me about that "Hero" who could pull meteors down from space and twist cities up with just her mind, I didn't quite understand your purpose in telling me. But after a few hours of meditating on it, I realized you were trying to give me a hint. You were trying to tell me that I could learn that ability myself; but I had to figure it out on my own for it to work! While I'm still not as proficient in it as her - and I don't think I will be for many months - I think I have come far enough to feel comfortable showing it off to you." He raised his hand, and their bodies followed.

Crookshanks just starred at him with wide eyes. This motherfucker had copied Tatsumaki's telekinesis in a week? Where the fuck were all these bullshit abilities coming from? He wouldn't have been able to invent that power at all a few months ago, let alone in just a week! What the hell had happened to change him so much?

Well, the answer to that question was obvious. Harry had gained a real teacher. Not someone who offered him a couple of pieces of advice a few times a year, not someone who was contractually obligated by their job to teach him, and not someone who helped him with something here and there, but someone who actually cared for him and pushed him to his limit every day to help him grow. He trusted Crookshanks completely and truly believed everything the cat told him.

That was enough to change Harry down to his very core, ripping away the years of abuse that the Dursleys had instilled in his mind and allowing him to think and learn freely.

As Crookshanks watched his disciple casually carry his master up the stairs to the boys dormitories using the same power as THE Tornado of Terror to do it, he realized that this had just confirmed his theory.

At first he didn't even humor it. The very idea was ridiculous. It was simply TOO broken. But over the past few months as he watched Harry train, the thought kept popping back into his head. And now, with wide eyes, legs shaking in excitement, and a maniac grin, Crookshanks finally realized that it just might be true.

Magic could do anything.

LITERALLY ANYTHING.

Telekinesis, Ki, Nen, Stands, Haki, Bending, Hamon, FUCKING reality warping, and literally anything else. If the user truly believes that it was possible to learn and worked toward it, their magic WILL grant them the ability.

And since Harry trusts his Sensei absolutely, anything Crookshanks tells him WILL be believed. And if he works to get that power, his magic WILL grant it to him.

This was the most broken, overpowered, bullshit that Crookshanks had ever heard of.

Then, at that moment, the implications of that power fully hit him. And the grin on his face could rival Cheshire's.

If he trained him properly, Crookshanks could make his disciple into anything. A planetary level power, an immortal cultivator, a shinobi, a Z-Fighter, or even a literal fucking GOD! Or even all of the above!

'Looks like we'll be upping your training routine once again Harry.' Crookshanks burst out into maniacal laughter, which just sounded like his usual demonic yowling to human ears.

-o0o-

Up in the third year boys dormitories Harry was carefully tucking his best friend into his bed with telekinesis, before he looked back down at her, smiling warmly.

He didn't know why, but whenever he looked at his best friend his stomach did backflips, his heart beat out of his chest and his palms got sweaty. He had never experienced, or even heard of anything like this before (The Dursleys weren't fans of romance and Harry rarely listened to gossip), so he was worried that he might be sick at first. But after realizing that he LIKED the feeling, his opinion changed.

While he still didn't know what to think of it - and for some reason got nervous whenever he thinks to ask Sensei about it - he simply opted to enjoy it whenever it sprung up. Like right now, when he starred down at her sleeping face curled up under the blankets.

What he failed to notice while he was starring at Hermione was the click of the dormitory door opening.

Feeling a presence behind him, and getting curious, Harry turned around, and his eyes bet Neville's.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Hey." Harry said simply, suddenly feeling embarrassed for some reason, his face turning red.

"...Hey." Neville said with a blank face, blinking as his eyes shifted back and forth between his roommate and Hermione.

Not knowing what else to do, Harry simply stared back.

Without another word, Neville stuck his hand out and gave Harry a thumbs up and a smile, before turning around and leaving the room.

Harry simply stood there, staring at the empty space, confused.

-o0o-

Crookshanks, after having read the last few paragraphs, grinned even wider (if that was possible). 'Looks like the ship may actually be sailing sooner than I thought.' He thought, totally not jinxing it.