A Dog in Winter
Severus Snape paced back and forth in front of the Headmaster.
"I can't believe you actually agreed to allow dementors here at Hogwarts!" he growled, finally, "Those things are deadly! We've already had two students in the Infirmary because the dementors got hold of them!"
"Why, Severus," Dumbledore replied, clacking some sort of hard candy between his teeth, "I never took you for a gossip."
"Have you forgotten who stocks most of the Infirmary's supplies?" Severus replied angrily, "I was there dropping off a fresh supply of Dittany when they were brought in! I know you've been keeping it quiet, but you can't keep it up forever. What will you do if one of the students with parents who work for the Ministry figures things out, or Merlin forbid, attacked?"
"We have rules in place, Severus," Dumbledore replied, "Early curfews. Extra patrols. If the students break the rules, they will suffer consequences."
"They're children, Albus!" Severus shouted, bending over the Headmaster's desk and looking him in the eye, "They don't listen, especially not your golden boy, Mr. Potter, and his annoying little friends!"
"Be that as it may, Severus, there is nothing that I can do. My hands are tied. As long as Black is at large, we cannot do much beyond repeating the rules and trying to catch troublemakers before it gets to that."
"But, Sir-!"
"This conversation is over, Severus."
"Fine!" Snape turned with a growl and stalked out of the Headmaster's office, leaving Dumbledore looking mildly amused behind him.
Severus stalked down the halls to the entrance to the castle, his face twisted with anger and frustration. How dare that man be so calm when such disgusting creatures were about? When he'd chosen teaching over Azkaban, Severus had been very glad that he'd been able to avoid the dementors. But now, Hogwarts was surrounded by the horrid beasts, who were almost more terrifying to imagine than the return of the Dark Lord.
Standing outside, his breaths puffing into clouds in the cold air, he saw a fluffy orange cat prowling along one of the fences in the garden. Though it was certainly beautiful out in the moonlight, the cold nipped angrily at his fingers. A Warming Charm took care of the sting, but Severus could feel his nose growing red at the tip.
He sat down on the stairs, glancing around to ensure that he was alone, and pulled a bundle from his robes. The meat pies he'd wrapped in a linen napkin had a stasis spell on it, so they were still piping hot, and the flavor seemed to burst in his mouth with every bite. The first was mushroom and steak, with gravy and vegetables. Severus almost moaned with delight as the flavor hit his tongue. He'd missed the evening meal due to his patrols, and had stopped by the kitchens instead. Of course, then he'd run into Madam Pomfrey, who had reminded him to bring the Dittany up, which meant that he'd tucked the food away for later, which had led to seeing the students, which had led him to Dumbledore...
"Ugh," he grumbled, his mouth half-full with food, "Best not to think about that old fart or I'll lose my appetite."
Just then, a rustling in the frost-covered bushes made him start and he stood, wand drawn, his food tucked back into his robes again.
"Show yourself!" he said angrily, almost hoping it was a Dementor so he could banish the foul thing.
But instead, what burst from the bush was an emaciated black dog, his muzzle matted with dirt and leaves. It was large, almost wolf-sized, but the ears and eyes were distinctly domesticated canine. Severus knew that Hagrid had not gotten another dog, and besides, any dog that Hagrid owned would have been well-cared for, not like this pathetic cur.
The dog whimpered, looking up at him with big, brown soulful eyes. It was obvious that the beast was hungry, especially since the castle was quite a ways from Hogsmeade and it was dark and cold to boot.
"Fine!" he snapped, though the animal hadn't asked him a thing.
He pulled the linen bundle from his robes and marched back over to the stairs, sitting down a bit harder than he'd intended to. Pulling out the un-bitten pie, he held it out.
"Here you go, you pathetic thing," he said, his voice growing gentle, the way it always did when he talked to an animal. He'd fed his share of strays on Spinner's End during his childhood. They reminded him of himself, so he helped when he could.
The dog walked cautiously towards him, his tail held out stiffly, showing caution. His head was down, but his eyes were up, looking him in the eyes. There was something in that gaze that struck Severus as being both humble and proud at the same time. There was an intelligence behind those eyes more than any mere beast. As the dog came closer, it whined and wagged its tail slowly back and forth, looking from the pie to Severus and back again.
"You must be starving. Here, if it'll make you feel better, I'll put it here." Severus stood, placing the cloth napkin down a few feet away and placed the pie on top. He also pointed his wand at the ground and conjured up a dish and filled it with water. There was no point in leaving the poor creature to drink brackish water teeming with bacteria.
Then, Severus turned and went back to his seat, munching on the rest of his meat pie as he watched the dog approach the meal and look up at him with a whine.
"Go on, you can eat," he said with a shrug as he pulled a sealed carafe of pumpkin juice from another pocket in his robes. Taking a swig, he could hear the dog tearing into the pie, and soon, there was nothing but crumbs left, crumbs that the poor animal was licking up hungrily until the cloth was soaked with dog drool. He then drank from the bowl as though it was the first drink he'd had in his life. Then, the dog looked up at him again, an expectant look in his eyes.
"Don't tell, you can smell this too," Severus groaned, setting down the carafe of juice and pulling another wrapped package from his robes. "I hadn't intended to share it, but I suppose if it's for a good cause I can part with some."
The dog ran up with a small snorting "wufff" noise and thrust its matted muzzle and head under his hand, his tail wagging broadly from side to side.
"Very well," Severus said, a smile pulling up one side of his mouth, "If you insist so adorably."
He patted the poor animal as the fingers on his other hand worked at the wrapped package of food, feeling every bone under the poor thing's dirty fur. A matted area on its side appeared to be crusted with old blood, and Severus found himself feeling pity for the neglected creature.
Pulling some Dittany from another pocket in his jacket, he set down the packet of food and looked at the dog, speaking to it as though it were a person. He knew that the dog would not understand his words, but he found that speaking in a calm, droning voice helped animals to trust him, and the animal would have to trust him enough for him to do what he was hoping to do next.
"I know you're a smart boy," he started, "but it does look like you got yourself a little injury there on your side. I've got some medicine and it won't hurt you a bit. I know it's intended to be used on humans, but I've found that it works on animals in a pinch as well."
He covered his fingers in the substance and held them out for the dog to sniff. The dog didn't lick them the way he expected it to do, but he still wagged his tail and stayed still while Severus moved to rub the salve on the wound. He could feel the cut underneath knitting back together under his fingers. It had been deep, and likely would have been infected if it was left that way. Severus Scourgified the matted fur of blood for good measure, and was rather surprised when the dog merely sat quietly and allowed him to do it.
"There, well, now that's settled, so I suppose you want some of this now," he said, chuckling quietly when the dog barked and wagged his tail as though answering in the affirmative.
He unwrapped the assorted miniature cakes and cookies that were wrapped up. There were jam cookies and chocolate chip and some raisin and spice cupcakes that were simply to die for.
"I'm keeping the chocolate, you know, bad for dogs and all that, but you can have these," Severus said placing down a few cookies and two of the cupcakes.
The dog happily gobbled the sweets down, his tail wagging the entire time, and Severus found himself smiling almost fondly as the dog finished his meal and rolled over on his back as though expecting to be petted on the belly.
"Now, now, you ought not to eat too many sweets or they'll rot your teeth," he said kindly, his face seeming to change completely from its normal sour and pinched expression as he finally allowed himself to smile.
The dog allowed him to pet his belly, which was surprisingly soft, even though Severus felt a pang of sadness at the prominent bones that protruded through the fur over his ribcage. And then, as though a spell had broken, the dog rolled around a bit and turned his head to the side, staring at the orange cat, which was now quite a bit closer, its tail up in the air like a fluffy exclamation point.
The dog barked a few times, wagging his tail, and then sped off after the cat, which ran out of sight, the dog disappearing moments after.
Severus shrugged and washed down his last bite with pumpkin juice. There were still some jam-filled cookies left, but he found that he'd lost his appetite. He placed the remaining sweets down on the linen napkin and walked back up the stairs to the castle, his hands in his pockets.
It was getting colder and the Warming Charm was wearing off, but he allowed himself one last look at the grounds behind him, his eyes widening as tiny flakes of snow began to fall slowly from the sky, before he shook his head, resuming his customary scowl, and pressed his way through the doors into the castle beyond.