This story takes place in an AU where Voldemort was defeated in the first war, and Harry and Draco were friends in school. My prompts for this story are; Cujo by Stephen King, Fatal (word), and a torn dress (object).
Neville Longbottom was waiting for his wife, Susan Longbottom-Bones, and his three-year-old son, Frank, to arrive. The small family of three was moving to a small town called Caerphilly because Neville had found a herbologist who was willing to teach him when he was off work. Neville wished to become the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts someday. Before long, Susan came into the room carrying Frank, who was wearing his favourite colour yellow. Frank looked a lot like his parents, he had his father's dirty blond hair and his mother's kind brown eyes. Gently, Neville took his son from his wife's arms. Using one hand to cover Frank's eyes, Neville and Frank flooed away. With one last look, Susan followed her husband and son.
Stepping out of the floo, Neville was met by the real estate agent that they had bought the house through. They were in a loud pub filled with people drinking, talking, and just hanging out. The pair waited for a minute in a comfortable silence. A moment later Susan stepped out of the floo like her husband before her. After a quick chat with the real estate agent, Susan and Neville left the pub they had flooed into. The air was bitter and crisp. The trio quickly arrived at their new home. Inside the home everything was in the correct place, the only thing missing was the mess that Frank was soon to make.
The family was enjoying their new neighbourhood. It was quite different from their previous one. Their old neighbourhood was filled with people wanting to be famous when their new neighbourhood was filled with people who were already famous or didn't care about being famous. Within a week of moving in the Longbottoms were invited to a party so that they could meet their new neighbours. People were very kind to the trio and seemed to actually want to get to know them. Frank was having fun in the corner with some of the other toddlers. Neville was talking to a man named David Turner. David was the town's law enforcement officer and was looking for a little help. Neville quickly agreed to help him. Susan was having a discussion with a witch named Alice Weiss, who was the local healer. Before long Susan found herself being asked if she would like Alice to take her as an apprentice. Susan quickly agreed, having always wanted to be a healer but not having the chance when her son was born. All three Longbottoms left feeling as if they had some friends in their new community.
That evening Neville awoke to a scratching sound on the front door. Without hesitation, he jumped out of his bed and grabbed his wand. Slowly he crept down the stairs. The door was just at the bottom of the stairs. Neville slowly stepped towards the peephole. Then the sound of paws hitting the ground filled his ears. Opening the door he saw a four-legged animal running away. Neville looked at the front of the door. It was covered in scratch marks. Neville closed the door and firmly locked it. Neville was almost asleep again when he heard Frank crying. Neville got out of bed and padded into his son's room. Gently, he picked Frank up. Frank's crying soon quieted. Neville walked over to the window with Frank in his arms. Looking out he could see the dim fire lights that lit the street. Underneath one of the fire lights was a small dog that was looking towards the house. With one last look, the dog sauntered away. Neville laid his now sleeping son back on his cot. With a last glance to make sure Frank was okay, Neville left the room.
Neville awoke to the smell of eggs cooking. Quietly and efficiently, Nevile readied for the day. Wandering down the stairs with a smile, Neville was met by his son happily playing with his two favourite toys, a stuffed lion and a stuffed badger. Neville walked into the kitchen to join his wife. Susan was cooking eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns. Neville grabbed two cups and began preparing coffee for him and his wife. Remembering the previous night, Neville told Susan that he was going to go see David Turner and ask about dogs. David lived only five houses down from the Longbottoms. Within five minutes Neville had arrived at David's house. Neville knocked on the door. The door opened, with David standing in the doorway.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but last night something scratched up my door," Neville said.
"It's okay. I've had multiple people tell me about this sorta thing in the past. How about you head back to your place to start looking for clues and evidence. I'll be over in five minutes," David suggested. Neville nodded and jogged back to his house. Upon his first look Neville saw nothing, but when he looked closer at the scratch marks he saw that they were in lines of four and the tallest only reached approximately three feet up the door. Neville ran into his house to grab a notebook.
4 claws
Highest point is 3 feet
Neville kept looking for more clues, he didn't find any. Casting a spell to check the time, Neville saw that it had been thirty minutes since he had come from David's house. This caused Neville to worry. He was pretty sure that David wouldn't be twenty-five minutes late. Briskly, Neville half walked, half jogged to David's house. Dark clouds rolled in, covering the blue sky like a blanket. Neville broke out into a full run. The door was cracked open. Stopping, Neville pulled his wand out from his back pocket. Swiftly, Neville cast a silencing charm on his shoes. With a grimace, he pushed the door fully open. There, in front of Neville was David. David looked as if he had fallen from the top of the stairs. His clothes were torn, and beside him was a basket. The basket looked as if it had been filled with clothes. On the floor beside the basket was a torn dress. Neville cast a quick spell to preserve the evidence before bolting back to his place to floo call the Aurors. With Harry and his partner Draco behind him, Neville swiftly ran back to David's house. He led Harry and Draco to where he found David. Before long the house was flooded with Aurors. A healer, who only studied dead bodies, was examining David.
"It appears as if the bite on his neck was fatal," the healer said after much deliberation.
"Bite?" Neville clarified.
"Yes, the bite is fatal," the healer responded. Neville grabbed both Harry and Draco, pulling them aside.
"What?" Draco asked impatiently.
"I have some information that might help," Neville said to the pair.
"Go on," Harry said.
"Yesterday evening I heard a scratching sound. When I got up to check what it was, nothing was there. So this morning I went to David, who was the town's law enforcement officer and asked him about it. He said things like that had been happening for the last month. I went back to look for information, David was supposed to join me five minutes later," Neville said.
"Thanks, Neville that helps. Can I have your notes on what you found on your door?" Harry asked. Neville nodded and handed Harry his notepad. Neville started to walk out of the house. Stopping at the doorway Neville looked back at the man he didn't know very well, and now never would. Neville slowly meandered back to his house, where Susan was sitting waiting for him. Susan stood up and Neville wrapped her in his arms, as she sobbed burying her head into his shoulder. The entire town of Caerphilly was in mourning including David's wife, Shayla. Searches were sent out looking for the animal, with a warning that the bite was fatal. Sadly, no one found anything.
One week later, Neville was sent off to the Ministry of Magic for the day. Outside there was a huge lightning storm. Harry was playing with Frank. The pair had to play inside because of the menacing storm outside. Harry and Frank were playing Lion and Badger, which Harry found hilarious considering Susan was a Hufflepuff and Neville a Gryffindor, when Frank froze. Harry turned around to see an Australian shepherd only a couple of feet away from him. Harry's eyes darted around looking for his wand. He spotted it inside the dog's mouth. Harry sighed. In a quick deliberate motion, Harry lifted Frank on top of Frank's dresser.
The dog barked, dropping Harry's wand in the process. As quick as Harry ran towards it the dog got in his way. The wand was not the dog's treasure, Harry understood that but he needed his wand! He tried to summon it wandlessly, but Harry was never gifted in wandless magic. He tried harder than he ever had in his entire life. Lightning struck near the house, but Harry kept trying. His wand shook, he was getting closer, when he heard a scream that broke his concentration.
Frank had dropped his Lion and was hanging precariously from the dresser. Harry stood frozen, seconds felt like hours. One of Frank's hands slipped. The dog stepped towards Frank and growled. Harry could reach his wand but then Frank might fall or get attacked by the dog. The dog stepped forward until he was under Frank. Harry took a step toward the dog. The dog growled and Franks' hand slipped just a little bit and he was left hanging by his fingers. Frank was crying.
Harry took another step forward but was too slow. He saw it in slow motion. Frank's fingers slipped. He hit the ground with a sickening thud. The dog viciously bit Frank's neck. Harry grabbed his wand and stunned the dog. Gingerly, Harry picked up Frank and began casting all the healing spells he knew on the boy. Harry rocked Frank in his arms, watching the life drain from his eyes.
Downstairs the floo activated, Neville stepped out. He heard the crying and decided to investigate. Neville drew his wand as he walked up the stairs. He entered the room to an unexpected sight. Harry was crying over Frank and there was a dog stunned in the corner. Neville quickly transfigured a cage for the dog and unfroze it. Harry then noticed Neville, he explained what had happened. Neville was overcome with grief. This was how Susan found them that night. Susan, who had dealt with the death of her parents, floo called the Aurors.
Gently, Draco, Harry's partner, removed Frank from Harry's arms. Harry, Neville, and Susan sat in the kitchen waiting for news. It wasn't too long before the news they were waiting for came. The dog had come in contact with dark magic that was similar to the Imperius curse. It was decided that they would mount a search to look for the item. It was expected to be found fairly quickly. Within a day the item was found, it was an old torn dress.
Neville decided to keep the dog because it reminded him of Frank. He named the dog Frank Jr. The funeral was very sad for Neville and Susan. It was held on the grounds of Longbottom manor. The family celebrated the time that they had had with Frank and mourned the time they lost.