[(￣▽￣)~ It's simple. You brought a lot of snacks, right? Share a little with me and I'll forgive you.]
Tom's face was full of smug confidence — the "everything is going exactly as planned" expression.
Honestly, what else could he do? Right now he was just a penniless, helpless little cat.
Luna had actually offered to share some of her allowance with him before they left home, but since the Lovegood family had already bought all of his school supplies, asking them for spending money too made him feel guilty.
So he politely turned her down.
And the result?
He got into Hogwarts — but he was even poorer than Ron Weasley.
Now a walking snack stash had approached him on a silver platter.
Of course Tom wasn't going to let the opportunity slip away.
"Huh? That's all you want?"
Hannah's eyes lit up.
"Then… if I sponsor all of your snacks in the future, does that mean I can pet you anytime I want? (≧ᗜ≦)"
Instead of being intimidated by Tom's little act of "extortion," the pure-blood heiress — blessed with a generous allowance — was already thinking long-term.
Snacks were important, sure.
But if she could trade renewable snacks for permanent cat-petting rights, that would be the greatest bargain in Wizarding World history.
[Uh… we'll discuss that some other time, some other time!]
"(╯°□°)╯ Are you kidding me?! I only wanted some free snacks and you're trying to buy my body?!"
Tom forced an awkward laugh to cover his panic.
There was no way he was taking that "deal."
He was born the Lovegood family's cat, and he would die the Lovegood family's ghost cat.
Compared to his soft, dreamy Luna, Hannah was just way too ordinary.
"Oh… okay."
Hannah looked genuinely disappointed, but her optimism bounced back almost immediately.
She reached into her bag to take out snacks to share — and then froze.
"(;°A°) Crap. I think I ate everything already."
She hadn't brought much to begin with — she planned to sample snacks along the train trip — and while she was secretly petting Tom earlier, she absentmindedly ate all of it.
Before she could panic further, the compartment door opened (Tom had unlocked it after waking up).
A woman selling treats pushed her trolley in with a warm smile.
"Sweetheart, would you like something to eat?"
"Of course! I'll take some of everything, thank you!"
Seeing the trolley, Hannah lit up again like a Christmas tree.
She could restock and get away from Tom's judgmental stare — best timing ever.
What she didn't realize was that Tom wasn't judging her at all.
He was completely lost in thought, thinking about money.
"(´-﹏-`;) I got lucky this time because I caught Hannah red-handed, but I can't rely on 'selling my body' for income. Sure, I'm a cat, but a cat still needs dignity!"
Unless it was absolutely necessary, Tom would never use his adorable charm as a financial tool.
He was a cat with principles.
"But seriously… how am I supposed to make money?"
Tom was talented — comically overpowered, even. He had done things no cartoon Tom ever managed, like catching Jerry.
But money?
That was his eternal enemy.
When he had first become Tom, he actually tried to live independently — move out, get away from Jerry and the old lady — but nothing worked.
Every time he earned money, no matter how much, it disappeared through some ridiculous twist of fate.
Eventually he gave up, accepted his destiny, and became a lazy freeloader cat.
But now, refusing to cash-in on his cuteness and refusing to mooch off the Lovegood family, he had to make earning money a priority again.
Would he succeed?
"Yeah! The only reason I couldn't earn money before was because the world was sabotaging me. But THIS is a magical world. There's no way I still can't make money here! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و"
…Except he had absolutely no idea what to do.
"Hmm… crunch crunch… maybe I could craft something? crunch crunch… My handmade stuff is really good. Maybe I could sell decorations? crunch crunch… I could even combine magic and that game knowledge from my past life to make fun items? crunch crunch…
…Wait. What am I eating?"
Tom suddenly snapped out of his thoughts.
There was something in his mouth. Multiple things. Where did they even come from?
He looked down — Hannah was happily munching on snacks while stuffing bite-sized treats into his paws, and his paws were automatically feeding his own face.
"Ah! Tom, you're finally back!"
Hannah breathed a sigh of relief. The worry instantly faded from her face.
"You were totally unresponsive so I panicked. Then I saw you still eating, so I figured you were fine! Go ahead — all these snacks are for you. Think of it as my apology!"
She grabbed a handful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, gave Tom one, and popped one into her own mouth.
Her face immediately twisted.
"Ugh — coffee flavor. Bitter!"
Tom threw the bean into his mouth by reflex — lucky draw — dried fish flavor.
But being a cat, Tom did not believe in "free food means silence."
As he kept chewing, he protested furiously:
[Thanks for worrying about me, but that doesn't mean you can just feed me whenever you feel like it!]
"(¬ω¬) I didn't feed you. I just put the food in your paw. You ate everything by yourself. You even ripped open the Chocolate Frog wrapper with your own claws…"
Before she could finish, the compartment door opened again.
A round-faced boy stood there, teary-eyed and trembling.
"S-Sorry… have either of you seen my Ralph?"
"Ralph? Is that your pet? A cat? I haven't seen any stray pets around, but I can help you look!"
The moment someone asked for help, Hannah forgot her snacks entirely and turned toward him enthusiastically.
"N-No, not a cat. He's a toad. My grandfather gave him to me when I got my Hogwarts letter, but… I don't think he likes me. He keeps trying to run away. Would you really help me look?"
The boy looked genuinely heartbroken but still hopeful — with those watery eyes and round cheeks, he was honestly pretty adorable.
"Don't worry — leave it to me!"
Hannah thumped her (nonexistent) chest confidently.
Then she turned to Tom.
"Right, Tom — are you coming with us?"