Random writing prompt given to me by my friend Melinda (hell-kill); sorry it took me so long to get to it! D;

Random prompts: Apple, dogs, samurai

A Present to Myself

Chapter One
I Need a Little Company

Harry grinned as he walked out of the comic store with the samurai figurine. He had ordered it for Ron's birthday, and had received the last one. Ron had recently discovered manga, and he was now hooked on the stuff, reading through series upon series like Hermione with her dusty tomes. And it had all started with a passing comment from Harry referring to Voldemort as kinda like a bad version of Superman. All-powerful and invincible, until you found his kryptonite.

That had gotten Ron curious enough to check out what was so great about comics, and from there he jumped over to the quicker, more comical manga; Japanese comics. He read everything; from manga about magical schoolgirls to action manga about human-looking aliens. One of his favorites was a manga called Samurai Deeper Kyo, so, since Ron's birthday was coming up, Harry ordered a figure of Kyo for him. He was sure Ron was going to like it.

So, happily toting the shopping bag, Harry walked down the sidewalk of the outdoor mall towards an ally that he could apparate home in. He was distracted, however, by the new pet shop on the corner. He hadn't noticed it before, bent solely on his task of picking up the samurai before they sold it or something, but now he stopped, gazing at the store thoughtfully.

It was awfully lonely in Black manor all by himself…maybe a pet would be good for him.

A bell on the door dinged as Harry walked in. The place smelt of all the different animals, and he could hear and see each one. Over in the back was the huge array of fish of all shapes and colors.

Not for me. What company could those give?

Along the right wall were the different pets; ferrets, snakes, lizards, chinchillas.

A ferret would get lost in the mansion and die of starvation if I let them out for the exercise they need. Snakes, ew, shedding; lizards, nah, boring—and as for chinchillas, what's the point of having an animal I can't really snuggle with?

In the middle of the store were the rows for care products, and a glass case of bunnies that Harry didn't even consider. There was just NO WAY. Along the right wall, though, were the regular pets; the cats and dogs and birds.

Birds are too loud, and cats are too high-maintenance…a dog it is, then.

Harry walked past the bored-looking muggle man behind the counter and walked up to the cages with the dogs. There were a few cages of slightly older dogs of several different breeds, but Harry ignored those. He wanted a puppy. There was only one cage of puppies, and they were all Labradors. Harry smiled and looked at all of them. There was a black one that was viscously attacking a sock.

That was just asking for trouble.

Then there were two other puppies, one black and one blonde, that were wrestling with each other. He didn't want to break up their play, so he looked at the last puppy, a blonde. It was just sitting there, looking up at him. To Harry's surprise, it's eyes were silver. Is that a normal eye color for Labs?

Did it matter?

Harry smiled, his decision made, and walked over to the man behind the counter.

He left the store and apparated home with his new pet, complete with collar, grooming set, pet bed and food bowls.

Boy, was his puppy gonna be spoiled.

Draco knew, the very moment Harry Potter walked into the pet store, that he was going home with him. That was just how his luck was turning out lately.

First, he just had to go and piss off that part-veela chick—but really, like her veela blood was going to make up for her obvious lack of wealth. A gold-digger if he ever saw one. There was no reason for her to curse him like she did.

I mean, honestly, she turned him into a puppy! And then sold him to a muggle pet store! And if he had heard the French spell right, the only way he could turn himself back was if both he and his owner loved each other.

The owner part was now instantly taken care of, as Saint Potter would never buy a pet he didn't intend to love completely.

But there was no way Draco was going to love Potter.

No way.

So, Draco resigned himself to being a dog for the rest of his life.

At least he was going to be pampered, right?

"You're such a cute puppy!" Harry grinned and fastened the emerald-green collar around Draco's neck. Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes, as that was not a very puppy-like thing to do.

Instead, he thumped his tail once on the couch cushion as a confirmation.

Harry's grin widened at that. "Oh, so you're a smart one, eh?"

Draco thumped his tail.

"Pretty, too."

Tail thump.

"I see you're vain as well."

Three tail thumps.

Harry laughed. "Alright then, you smart puppy you, what do you want your name to be?"

If Draco could frown, he would have. How was he supposed to communicate 'Draco' to Potter?

He sighed as he realized that it was quite impossible, and looked around the room for something that would make a suitable name.

Harry, meanwhile, was coming up with completely random and unoriginal names for him.

"I suppose you wouldn't want to be named Rex."

Draco growled.

"Spike?"

Growl.

"Er…Fluffy?"

Growl accompanied with a snarl.

"Erm…" Harry glanced around the room, running out of ideas. His gaze landed on the bowl of fruit on the coffee table.

"Apples?"

Silence, then a light tail thump.

Harry took it for a 'it'll do,' and smirked.