The Importance of Puppy Dog Eyes
By: Asagi Tsuki
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Summary: Draco knew taking the pup home from the pound wasn't his most brilliant idea, because his family is nothing if not quick learners
Warning: OOCness, non-canon compliant, no Voldemort AU, mention of past mpreg
Disclaimer: obviously, Harry Potter is not written by me. If it were, it would be so lame, that this fandom would be non-existent. And I would be off writing another book instead of fanfics
A/N: set in the same universe as "The Perks of Having a Middle Name". This time the title is a parody of "The Importance of Being Earnest". Comment with your suggestions if you want to see more shenanigans of the Potter family =P
The Importance of Puppy Dog Eyes
Draco knew, he somehow just knew, that taking the pup back from the pound wasn't exactly his most brilliant idea ever, especially when he saw the evil glint in Scorpius' eyes as he watched him pamper the pup.
It all began when...
"Kids, say hello to your new family member," Draco said one afternoon as he entered the house carrying a small, brown-furred pup of mixed breed. It looked kind of like a Yorkshire terrier, but not quite. "His name is Dexter."
"That's quite a mouthful for a little thing like him," Harry commented as he stared at the pup who stared back at him with unblinking eyes. He had to admit that it was cute and he could see why Draco brought him back—Draco could never resist cute things.
Exactly why they ended up having four children, no matter how much Draco complained of how troublesome being pregnant was, and how painful the labour was. Harry suspected he would have kept going, possibly trying to produce enough children to balance all the Weasleys, if he hadn't intervened and told Draco that he would have his hands more than full when their children were all teenagers if he did.
"I picked him so it's my right to name him," Draco said as he sniffed haughtily and placed Dexter down on the wooden floor of their living room.
He was immediately surrounded by four overly curious children who couldn't keep their grabby paws off of anything new. And soon enough his nickname was decided for him—Deck, because the children couldn't quite pronounce the letter x yet.
Dexter was a smart pup, and he was housebroken quite fast. The kids also were too excited to teach him tricks and play with him, to the point where Draco had to steal Dexter from them, leaving them a mess of whining and wailing toddlers.
Dexter quickly made himself at home and truly became part of their family. They all loved him and spoiled him rotten, but it also brought to light Draco's secret weakness to all things cute—only Harry knew of it previously.
It happened one fateful Sunday morning. Draco had just finished making breakfast when Dexter came bounding towards him and nuzzled Draco's leg.
"I'll fill your bowl in a second, Dexter," Draco said as he nudged the pup gently with his foot, but he remained stubborn. "Dexter, come on, I need to set the table."
Dexter kept nuzzling his leg, and just as Draco was bending down to pick Dexter up and put him on the kitchen counter (he was afraid of heights and would always stay put there), the pup blinked his huge eyes cutely and made whimpering noises at the back of his throat.
It was Draco's turn to make a noise at the back of his throat, though his sounded more strangled. "Harry, love, would you mind setting the table for me?" he asked when he heard footsteps, but looked up only to see Scorpius standing at the doorsill, eyes wide in surprise before they narrowed and glinted almost evilly.
"Scorp—"
"Mama," Scorpius said, his voice still gurgled slightly as he was just learning to speak. "Cookies?"
"No, it's breakfast time," Draco said as he shook his head, picking Dexter up and resting him against his shoulder. "Go call your brothers and sister to eat."
Scorpius didn't budge. Draco frowned and was about to ask him again when suddenly the little blond boy looked up at him with wide, hopeful eyes, blinking them rapidly for added effects.
"Pwease?"
Draco let his head hit the counter with a thunk and knew that his days of hell were just starting.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Gossip travelled quite fast in the Potter household. Very fast, in fact, that by lunch the same day, all his kids were staring at him with wide puppy dog eyes, blinking them cutely for added effects.
"Ma, can I sleep with you tonight?" Albus asked as he climbed on top of Draco's lap and practically shoved himself into Draco's face. "Please?"
"Al, we've been through this before," Draco said as he looked away, pointedly not looking at Albus' face while the toddler was trying his best to shove himself into Draco's face. "You have to learn to be brave and sleep by yourself, okay? I know you're a brave kid, so—"
"Pwease, Ma?" Albus asked again, this time accompanied with a pitiful whimpering noise, his huge green eyes shining with unshed tears.
And Draco knew he had lost.
"Okay, but only tonight..."
One night turned into two, then three, and eventually after two weeks, Harry put Albus back in his room and threatened to confiscate his stuffed bunny ("No! Not Mr. Rabbit!") before Albus sulkily agreed to sleep in his own room.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Being the oldest, James knew he had to act fast to take advantage of the famed puppy dog eyes before he lost his baby fat, and consequently, his chubby cuteness.
"Mom?" James called as he walked into the kitchen. "Can I stay over at the Weasley's place tonight?"
Draco looked at him suspiciously. "Did Fred and George invent a new prank item again?"
James smiled at him innocently. "Rosie asked me over so we can study together."
"You didn't answer my question, young mister," Draco warned.
James jutted his lower lip out. "Please? Can I?" he asked, opening his eyes wide and looking up at Draco pleadingly. "I promise I won't get into too much trouble, and I'll even walk Deck for a week."
Draco sighed. "Fine, pack your pajamas. I'll talk to Harry and the Weasleys."
"Yay!"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Being born a girl (and the only girl in the household), Lily knew she had an advantage over her siblings, always. Even before they discovered the power of the puppy dog eyes, Draco spoiled her more than the others.
Still, they could use the eyes on Draco because they were still small and cute, so she had to act fast and make the most of it while she still could—as she had seen Dexter did. The pup was always whimpering and begging pitifully in Draco's presence nowadays.
"Mom?" Lily asked sweetly as she walked into the living room carrying the cookie jar.
"No," Draco said automatically without even looking away from the television, causing Lily to pout.
However, she wasn't Lily if she wasn't stubborn. She determinedly walked towards Draco, climbing onto the couch then his lap, and nudged him.
"Mom?"
"No, sweetie," Draco repeated.
Lily huffed. How was she supposed to use the puppy dog eyes on Draco if he wouldn't even look at her?
"Mom," Lily stooped down low and whined while tugging at Draco's shirt. At least Draco finally tore his eyes away from the screen and looked down at her, which was when she immediately went into battle mode and put on her cutest puppy dog eyes. "Can I have cookies?"
"Ugh, why are you and Scorp so obsessed with cookies?" Draco groaned. "Okay, but just one."
However, similar to Albus' nights in their bedroom, the one cookie he allowed her soon morphed into five.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Contrary to what the children believed, age played no role in lessening the effectiveness of the puppy dog eyes.
"Stop acting like a kid, Potter," Draco grumbled as he glared at his husband. "No means no."
"You're a Potter too," Harry pointed out before he stumbled back as a pillow hit him square in the face.
Draco glowered at him. "It's your turn to watch the kids, and you promised—you promised that I can go out with Pansy that day."
"But that was before I knew the Cannons are going to play," Harry said with a pout. He climbed onto their shared bed and hugged Draco's middle, a habit he had developed over the months Draco had been pregnant. He looked up at him with wide, hopeful eyes. "Please? I'll be good for the whole week after."
"But my plan with Pansy—"
"I already talked to her and she's okay with rescheduling," Harry cut him off. "Please? I'll even give you a back massage every day for the week after."
"But—"
"Please?" Harry begged again.
"Ugh, okay, okay, fine!" Draco shouted as he threw his hands up in defeat. "Seriously, you're as bad as the kids," he said grumpily, settling down in their bed, forcefully pulling the cover up to his chin.
Harry chuckled and settled behind his husband, pulling the smaller man up against him so that Draco's back rested against his chest, before he pressed butterfly kisses along Draco's neck.
"Love you too," he mumbled, and drifted off to sleep.
Meanwhile Draco stared at Dexter who sat innocently near their bedside table, looking at him with the darned puppy eyes.
"I'm starting to think that I should've just found someone to take you in instead of taking you in myself," Draco said.
As if he could understand what was being said, Dexter frowned sadly and made pitiful whimpering noises.
Draco sighed in defeat. There was no winning against them.
End Story
Hope you enjoyed that :D if you do, do leave a comment coz I'm a comment whore :P I know that Dexter was never mentioned in the other fic, but let's just say he just wasn't featured in any of those scenes (oh, another bit of trivia: Mr. Rabbit is the actual name of a stuffed bunny I own...)
I really should start writing more. I have been really unproductive in terms of writing lately, and honestly it alarmed me. I used to be able to spare at least half an hour to write before, but now I just can't seem to come up with anything to write, not even for fun ;_;
I really need a project so that I will be driven to write. Anyone knows if there's an upcoming fest or something that I can participate in? Or a good site for prompts, as I seem to be running out of ideas.
Oh, if you enjoyed reading it, please leave a comment. I'm a comment whore, and it feels nice to know that your hard work is appreciated =P