"He did." Hermione squeezed her eyes shut as she remembered that year. "He'd broken out of Azkaban to try to protect Harry from Peter Pettigrew but of course he couldn't get into the school. He stayed in dog form most of the year and would meet Crookshanks near the Whomping Willow for any news."
Crookshanks had yowled until she'd brought him to the memorial Harry had staged in the Leaky, even if it wasn't quite done to bring a cat to a pub. "I think they were friends till the end, even if Padfoot hadn't been here in ages."