Shadey

For Summer

Several days older than five and oh so silly, according to their mummy who had yet to tire of their impish ways; the twins were outside with their older brother playing while baby Ginny and little Ronnie took their naps. The two, just happy that they were now big enough to skip napping, did not plot any tricks outside that day. Instead, they whooped and hollered and ran like two drunken bear cubs in zig-zags all around their family home.

"Fred! Fred!" One shouted as the other cried:

"George! George!"

Percy, for his part, was studiously ignoring them in favor of climbing up a thick-waisted tree with a book clamped in his mouth. He'd probably go all the way to the tippy-top, Fred mused. He usually did despite the way their mummy always scolded him for it later. George suspected it was because he thought he was better than the rest of them and thought he'd prove it by lording over them all from a tree canopy whilst they ran about and played like hooli-guns as daddy had called them last month after he took them to Hogsmeade to help pick out a box of chocolates for mummy.

Of course, he'd been quite upset with them when he called them that. That was because he had to drag George - kicking - and Fred - screaming - from the store after they tried to stuff as many of the loose gummy candies from the open bins down their throats as he paid for their mum's anniversary gift.

Fred didn't know if his twin was right, but he had no proof otherwise, so agreed with his brother's observation.

Whilst running, Fred saw something black and fury in the grass. Stopping his scampering, he went to the thing and saw it was a dog. The animal was skinny and more than a little mangy looking, but Fred bet with some good meals and brushing he'd be a handsome fellow.

The dog opened his eyes and made a weak movement to get up.

"George! Percy!" He yelled.

Percy looked down from his tree as George stopped his own running to stare straight at him from across the lawn.

Pointing to the shaking dog, he said "It's a puppy!"

Curious, his brothers came to his side and Percy, being the oldest, took charge. "I bet he needs water more than he needs food right now," the eight year old declared. "That's what the kid in my book needed after he walked around in a forest all by himself for two days."

Petting the animal who gave an occasional thump of his tail, the twins only payed their brother a half ear. "What d'you think George? How about Shadow?"

"No, no Nighty's a much better name Fred!"

Crossing his arms and scowling, Percy snapped "You can't name a dog after what mum wears to bed!"

"Then what d'we call 'im Percy?" George demanded with a pout.

"Shade," the elder declared as he crouched down beside the tired dog. "Not so silly as Nighty and not so boring as Shadow."

Hugging the surprisingly docile dog, Fred smiled. "Shadey! I like Shadey!"

"Shadey's good," George agreed as Percy made an unhappy noise at how they butchered his perfectly proper name.

Crossing his arms, Percy said "I'm not calling him Shadey!"

"You don't have to!" George snapped back as he stuck out his tongue.

Shaking his head, Percy pulled his younger brothers up and told them "Let's get Shade to mum, okay? She'll make him feel better."

And quickly seeing the logic as they knew no better person to make you feel good when you were down, the twins helped the dog toward their home.

Running ahead, Fred called "Mummy! Come see who we got!"

Drying her hands on a towel as she shushed her son with an angry hiss, Molly followed her excited boy out to the yard and screamed at what she saw.

A dirty, skeletal dog panting in her older's son lap. What on earth was she supposed to do!?

"Boys!" She yelled with great dismay.

xXXxXXx

Despite how they're mother promised they would be getting rid of Shadey as soon as he was better, the dog quickly warmed up to the family as the children fell in love with him.

The name "Shadey" always seemed to be just a second away from leaving their lips as they followed the dog around their home and petted and scratched him whenever he settled down to rest anywhere.

Curiously, the dog was fondest of Ron. Shadey liked their littlest brother so much he slept on the floor next to his cot and put up with all the ways Ron tortured him. From ear twisting to tail tugging. It didn't seem to matter to their strange dog, Ron couldn't be more perfect in his big eyes.

At first, Fred and George were quite jealous as they were the ones to find him and went as far to turn their baby brother's teddy into a spider. It thoroughly scared Ron, but it also angered Shadey to the point he snapped his teeth at them.

Mummy had nearly tossed out the dog then, but Percy, just as adoring of the mutt, had soothed their mother. "He was protecting Ron, mum, you can't get rid of him because of that."

Molly had looked no more pleased after that, but the tightness around her lips thawed and she dined to give the dog a quick pat on the head. "You were watching out for my Ron, weren't you boy?"

Shadey wasn't one to do much barking, however, he gave her his answer with a quick lick of her palm.

And so, Shadey stayed and slept in Ron's room and was his very best friend despite all his siblings and his parents nudging for him to play with Ginny more. It seemed Ron would be another shade of Percy - except he'd have a dog instead of books to keep him company.

Ten and just several months past nine, Ron sat out in the lawn in on a early fall evening. The wind was crisp and leaves already tumbling down from the trees in patches of browns and yellows. Seated in some tall weeds, he was playing a lazy game of catch with Shadey as the dog rooted around in the grass - ignoring the stick a half meter away from him.

Frustrated, he shouted "Shadey! Get the stick old boy!"

Looking up, the dog sent Ron one of those looks that spoke of indecision before trotting away to retrieve said stick and bring it to the waiting boy. Dropping it at his young master's sneakered feet, Shadey's eyes were doleful and Ron shook his head and smiled before hugging his friend close. Shadey was probably ancient in dog years, but he hardly looked a day older than when his brothers brought him home.

Their parents had remarked upon that from time to time, Percy once suggested maybe their dog had been a lab-dog and that whatever those people had done had prolonged his life. It seemed quite fantastical - especially coming from Percy, but with no better reasoning, it'd been accepted fairly easy. Their dog had a potion, maybe a spell tested on him. And now he didn't age like a dog his size should, so what? It was a fine thing for all of them, they thought. Maybe he'd make it all the way to Ron or Ginny's last year of Hogwarts before he died.

The longer the better, Ron spouted whenever his best friend's age was brought up. He didn't know what he'd do without him.

Letting his dog go so he could stare at his black mug, Ron tilted his head and asked:

"What're you going to do without me next year boy? I don't think Hogwarts lets dogs come."

"Rrf," the animal grunted in reply as he gave his young master a lick to the chin.

Laughing as he wiped at tears in the corner of his eyes, Ron told the dog "I'm not good with people like Bill, or as brave as Charlie; Percy's got us all beat in the nerd department and everyone loves the twins 'cause their so fun; but what about me? What're people going to expect of me when I go to Hogwarts? I'm not like them, you know. All that makes me different is that you like me better than everyone else."

Shadey rested his head on Ron's knee and looked at him as if he was his whole world, the boy wished everyone looked at him like that. His brothers, his mum and dad, his sister. At least then it'd mean he was different from everybody else.

Incapable of stopping himself, he buried his face in his dog's thick hair and began to cry. "S-Shadey!"

And for all of a half-second, Ron felt like someone was hugging him before Shadey was toppling him to the ground and washing away his tears with a hundred doggie kisses.

xXXxXXx

Listening to her son cry himself to sleep for the eighth night in a row, Molly got out of bed and made a decision. She had to write Dumbledore and see if something couldn't be arranged for her Ron. The boy had been with that dog at his side far too long for any separation to go over well. Leaving her snoring husband, she entered the kitchen and picked up one of the fine red quills Bill probably left behind and a slip of parchment to write the headmaster of Hogwarts.

Sitting herself down at the long table her family ate at, the woman hugged her robe closer and began her letter simply:

Dear Headmaster Dumbledore...

"I don't much like dogs," Harry Potter admitted as Ron let Shadey out of his crate in their compartment on the train.

Giving the other boy a reassuring smile, the redhead said "He's really good, I promise!"

Shadey, in odd fashion, did not wag his tail at Ron and lay down at his feet. Instead, the dog all but jumped Harry and began to lick his face.

"Ah!" The bespectacled boy yelped as he squirmed to get away.

Standing up and grabbing Shadey away, Ron sent the other an embarrassed smile. "He hasn't done that before," he admitted to his new friend.

Harry gave him a look of disbelief as he wiped his face clean of dog slobber with his robe's sleeve (a new one, not one handed down thrice times) "right," he replied as he turned his stare out the window.

Sending Shadey dismayed look, the redhead leaned in close and hissed "What was that all about?"

"Hrr," the dog whimpered as he wriggled under Ron's hand.

Sighing, Ron wondered if Harry would still want to be friends with him once they got to Hogwarts after being assaulted with doggie kisses. Gloomy, he turned in on himself and barely realized what was happening when Harry threw a piece of candy at him.

"I bought them all," he explained. "I didn't know which was best."

Looking, Ron grinned when he saw it was a chocolate frog. "These ones are the best if you ask me," he told the bespectacled boy. "Just watch!" He opened the packaging and let the frog do a couple hops before grabbing it and taking a vicious bite from its head.

"It hops," Harry awed.

Laughing, Ron gave him the trading card inside. "It's Merlin. I have a ton of Merlins."

Looking at the bit of paper, Harry smiled at him and tucked it away before giving Shadey a weary look. "You meant it when you said he doesn't usually jump people, didn't you?"

"Of course!" Ron gaped. "I have no reason to lie now, do I?"

Something shadowed across the famous boy's face, but nonetheless, he let Shadey give his hand a lick before he began to pet him between the ears. "I guess you're just as excited about going to Hogwarts as the rest of us, huh?" He murmured.

Shadey gave one of his patent mutt smiles and inched forward to rest between the two boy's feet evenly. Watching the two, Ron slowly came to the conclusion that his dog could like other people just as much as he liked Ron as long as it was someone his dog felt Ron could like just as much as Shadey

And with this in mind, he knew that Harry was going to be his very best (human) mate despite everything else.

xXXxXXx

Over the course of their first year, Shadey proved to be a true asset time and time again. He was a phantom that followed them from class to class, growled at Professor Snape and got himself kicked out of potions and Ron detention for a month; helped them make friends with 'mione who was fond of giving Shadey tidbits from breakfast, and he showed himself to be far more intelligent than Ron ever could have guessed when Shadey followed them all the way down to the chamber where the Philosopher's stone was hidden and went with Harry when it became obvious Ron and Hermione couldn't.

Afterwards, Harry had told Ron, "I don't think your dog's a dog."

Not understanding, he'd looked at his pet and asked "What's he mean, Shadey? Are you a wolf?"

Looking oh so pathetic, Shadey curled up in a ball at his feet and ignored him for a good while and Harry refused to pet him anymore.

It wasn't until the trio's third year when the story's of Pettigrew's escape from Azkaban got out that Ron learned what Harry meant.

Gazing at the shaggy-haired man who used to be his best friend, Ron said "That's why you like him better, isn't it? He's your godson."

Eyes tired, Shadey - Sirius - smiled a lopsided grin and picked the redhead up in a hug. "You know what kiddo? He might be my godson, but as far as I'm concerned, you're my nephew. Good as blood, you are."

Ron had wrapped his arms around the accused murderer and sniffled into his neck. "Thanks for being my dog, Sirius," he whispered.

"Thanks for being my kid, Ron," He breathed into the boy's red hair as he swayed with the boy in a hug.

Sniveling, the redhead pulled away and asked "Has Dumbledore told mum and dad?"

"Yeah," the man sighed.

Crying then, he asked "What am I going to do without you?"

Grabbing the child's chin, Sirius said to Ron "Just because I'm not your dog anymore doesn't mean you can't talk to me, okay? Write me. Floo me. Hell, I'll buy your family one of those muggle calling devices if you want! But please Ron, don't think I'm gone just because I can't sleep on the foot of your bed anymore!" He finished with a bit of a laugh.

"You're my best friend."

Sirius sighed. "What about Harry? Or Hermione?"

"They don't know me like you do," the boy insisted.

Setting his kid down, Sirius squeezed Ron's shoulder and explained "things are going to be different now, I won't be by your side every minute of the day. You're going to need a new best friend - preferably one your age."

Ron almost started crying again. It hurt to know he was losing a best friend. More than anything else he'd experienced so far in his short life. But he knew what Sirius meant...it was weird for a kid his age to be friends with a man old enough to be his father, let alone best mates with one, and if he didn't stop being a ninny, people were going to lock Sirius up for something else.

"Okay," he agreed finally as he let the man ruffle his hair and praise:

"Good lad!"

And Ron would tell anyone and everyone who listened from then on his best mate was Harry Potter and not Shadey. Of course, if one looked at who all his letters went to during the summer they'd realize his best friend was a man almost twice his age.

It was unconventional and left some uneasy, but Ron and Sirius made it work.

Shadey - Sirius - had been Ron's longest companion and a change in species wasn't going to change that for them.

First, I hope you liked this Summer because now I don't have to buy you a Christmas gift ;) You've been really great this past year, we've leaned on each other so much I don't know what I'd do without you anymore! I hope I did your wish justice.

To everyone else, what'd you think? Was it fun? Interesting?

Thanks for reading and please review!

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