Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the Harry Potter world and it's inhabitants. They are owned by J. K. Rowling. I only own the unfamiliar character and world in this story. Neither do I own the television show Cheers, by the by. -- JMMendiola

Stuck

First Person

Chapter One

My life was completely normal.

That is, until he showed up.

I was minding my own business, just taking a midnight stroll though the small wood separating my cottage and the town, and there he was.

He was a dog. The biggest dog that I had ever seen. The dog was laying on the cobbled sidewalk in front of my cottage, all fours sprawled out away from his body. He was panting and whimpering every few seconds, his eyes half lidded.

I bent over and put a hand on his cold nose. He whimpered even more and nudged at my hand.

"What's the matter, honey?"

The dog whimpered loudly, even loudly before.

Now, let me tell you, I have a weakness for animals. I love animals and I would have become a Veterinarian, if my parents were still alive. But I dropped out of medical school and came back home.

Why? Because the family business was given to me.

It's not really a business, it's just a job that has been in my family for seven generations. I'm the eighth generation to inherit this job. But it does have it's perks. Like the two thousand dollar check every week from the government, and not to forget the free water.

"Come on," I crooned to the dog, "thank God we're in front of my house."

Thank God, indeed. I planted a foot on either side of him and helped him to his paws. I practically carried him up the stone path to my door. It was as if he weighed more than myself.

I set him down and he managed to stay on his paws for a couple of seconds before falling back to the ground. I unlocked and opened my door and was suddenly surprised. The dog had suddenly stood up and ran into my cottage.

I walked in and turned on the lights, closing the door behind me with a smirk.

"Glad to know your not near death, honey," I said to him.

It was actually very amusing at the time. The dog had adopted my couch as the next place to collapse on.

"Your probably just weak from hunger and thirst." I petted his head and he nudged my hand again. "I try to find something for you to eat, baby."

I walked into the kitchen, which was a short ways away from the living room and opened the refrigerator. Just leftovers and fruit, not to mention a molding pear. I wrinkled my nose taking a fast food bag out of the fridge and walking back to the dog with it.

"I bought a burger and fries yesterday, but I didn't eat it," I had no idea why I was talking to the dog, but I was.

I had bent down and sat on my knees, ripping open the brown paper bag.

"I guess I can give you the patty -- what? Hey! You have to take the wrapper off first!"

The dog had dived off of the couch for the burger and with powerful jaws, taken the bag away from me. He took it to the corner of the room and ripped the burger to shreds, eating every last bite of it. Even a bit of the paper that had been covering it.

I stood and watched him with a gaping mouth and he dug his snout into the little bag of fries.

"I'll. . . Um, I'll get you some water then," I muttered weakly.

In the kitchen I filled a bowl with water and then I set it on the wooden floor of the living room. He drank every last drop. And to my amazement, he jumped back onto the couch, gave a loud burp and then fell asleep.

"Wow," was all I could muster up.

I left him alone after that and went to my bedroom. I owned a cottage to be proud of. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room. It was small, but cozy. I would never leave this cottage. It had once belonged to my parents.

I undressed in the bathroom across from my bedroom, leaving the door open, in case the dog came looking for me. I turned the shower on and stepped under it, letting the hot water spray away my aches and pains.

My job was hard, but I liked it.

You see, the job that had been passed down to me by my parents was pretty simple. I was the Mortimer Cemetery caretaker.

The cemetery was small and no one used it anymore. It only had about five hundred graves. Most of them were above the ground tombs. All I had to do was make sure the graveyard was taken care of. Like the gardening and yard work. I was constantly scrubbing away spray paint from the headstones. There are still families that lived in the village who liked to come out to the cemetery to put flowers out for their great-great-grandparents. There were even rose bushes and various other plants and flowers that people had planted over the centuries in the cemetery.

Even my great-great-grandparents, Eleanor and Garwaf Warren were burried in this cemetery.

Over all, I liked my job as caretaker.

And it's like Cheers in the Village. Everybody knows my name, you know.

You know, that old television show. My parents used to watch it.

"There goes Samantha! . . . Hey Sam! . . . How you doing, Sam?"

After washing my hair and body I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around me and walked to my bedroom. I left that door open to and dried myself off. Finally dressed in my pajamas I walked into the living room and I made sure that the door was locked and secure.

The dog was up and following me around. I guess that burger and fries had saved his life. I turned off the lights in the house and went to my bedroom, the dog followed me still.

I smiled at him as I got under the bed clothes. It was a cold night and my hair was still wet.

The room I was in was previously my parent's bedroom. I took the time to repaint it and get new furnishings. It might sound weird that I am now sleeping in their old bedroom, but I just feel safe.

Patting the empty space beside me on the queen sized bed I said, "Come on up, there's enough room."

I yawned when he jumped onto the bed. At that time I wasn't really thinking about it. But this dog was kind of weird. Like I said though, I wasn't really thinking about it, I was drowsy.

Right when I was falling into a deep sleep, I could have sworn I heard the shower running. And the bathroom door closing. . .

Hmm. I guess I was just dreaming it. I think.

AN: Hope You guys like this! The first chapter is a little short, though. ;) Please review! -- JMMendiola