Of Pets and Hidden Truths
Disclaimer - Harry Potter is owned by J.K Rowlings
A/N - Written for QL round 4
Prompt - BEATER 2: Write about losing a pet (to death or otherwise).
Additional prompt - (dialogue) "House-elves are not pets!", sound) bark or mew (doesn't necessarily have to be made by a dog/cat)
Word count - 2384
Susan Bones was lonely; there wasn't any sugar coating it. Her whole life, she'd longed to know her parents. She'd never really known them, since she was barely one when they were killed by Death Eaters. At Hogwarts, people looked at her with pity and sympathy, but she didn't want that; she wanted a true friend, who saw past her tragic past. Sure, her fellow Hufflepuffs were always there, but she wanted something else, something more than just someone she shared a few classes with.
While most of her classmates were attending the Quidditch World Cup, she was at home. Aunt Amelia was too busy to accompany her and wouldn't allow her to go alone. Susan understood why. After everything her aunt had seen in her time in the DMLE, she didn't trust anyone else with Susan's safety. Still, it was frustrating when all of her classmates could do things that she couldn't. The things that made them real friends, telling Susan about all their funny stories when they came back. She couldn't stand it.
She left the house just as it started to rain.
The Bones Manor was surrounded by trees and bushes. It was very atmospheric, but it meant there were a lot of wild animals close by. They'd had grass snakes and squirrels sneak in before, and while nothing more nefarious had gotten in, it was always a possibility.
As Susan was walking, she heard some voices from the bushes. A shiver ran down her spine, and her breath caught in her throat. She considered running back to the manor, but she hated the idea of exposing her back to whoever it was in there.
"Who's there?" she asked, clutching her wand tightly. Not that it would do much good. The few combat spells she'd learned had fled from her mind.
Just then, something jumped out of the bushes. Susan closed her eyes, praying it wasn't a wolf.
She heard a dog barking, but it wasn't in a threatening way. She opened her eyes and came face to face with a shaggy black dog with strange piercing grey eyes.
'Do dogs even have silver eyes?' she thought.
The dog wagged its tail as Susan cautiously approached it. She gently patted it — him; the dog was male. As he started to sniff her, he frowned in almost human confusion. Susan chuckled and scratched him under his chin, smiling as he extended his neck.
After playing with the dog for some time, Susan noticed that the rain had stopped. Looking up, she saw the sun was setting and decided to go back. Her aunt would be worried if she came home to an empty house. But as she started to turn away, she heard loud whining from behind. Looking around, she saw that the dog was staring at her with those huge eyes. Her heart ached.
How could she leave him behind?
-x-
In evening, The whole Bones Manor echoed with loud shrieks of horror. Gipsy, the house-elf who was in charge of the household, was hanging by the chandelier, while Snuffles, as Susan had named him in her head, barked at her. He was clearly enjoying tormenting the house-elf.
"Bad, bad doggy," Gipsy scolded weakly, but Snuffles kept barking, intent on scaring her.
Susan wasn't pleased with Snuffles antics. It seemed her new friend didn't like house-elves.
That night when Amelia returned home, she wasn't pleased to see a black dog in her sitting area.
"I don't understand. Where did he come from? Why do you even need a dog?" she asked, even before she had removed her coat, eyeing the dog with disdain.
Suddenly, every emotion Susan had been feeling since she arrived at Hogwarts began bubbling up. Tears pricked at her eyes, and she felt a large lump rise to her throat. Before she knew it, she had started shouting.
"Because I feel lonely!" she yelled, shocking Amelia into silence. She felt the tears burn at her eyes, looking to escape. , much to "I don't have anyone. My parents are dead. I don't have siblings like Hannah or Ernie or even Justin. And you're at work all the time. I'm all alone in this gilded cage you've made for me."
Amelia was beyond shocked. She hadn't known Susan felt this way. She'd tried to give her everything while keeping her safe.
On cue, Snuffles was by Susan's side, nuzzling her all the while growling at Amelia. It was almost as if he already knew her better than her Hogwarts friends. Amelia backed away, a strange look on her face as Susan patted the dog.
"It's okay, boy. I'm fine," Susan assured Snuffles who just whined. Then, heart in her throat, she looked up and asked her aunt, "Can I keep him?"
-x-
Darkness. That was the only thing Susan could see. She could smell the forest, hear the twigs snapping under her feet in the eerie silence, even though she didn't know how she got there. She was alone.
Suddenly, she felt someone's presence behind her. She turned around to see many hooded figures with glowing red eyes were coming closer. She took a step back, but the shadowy figures kept coming closer and closer.
Susan's back hit something solid and she realized that a wall had materialized behind her. The shadow figures were about to reach her when —
"No!" she shouted as she woke, her body covered in cold sweat. Immediately, Snuffles was by her side, looking for a possible threat, but he found nothing. Susan hugged him close, taking deep breaths and drawing strength from his soft fur and familiar scent. It was just a dream.
-x-
When Susan left for Hogwarts, Snuffles felt alone. She'd wanted to take him with her, but students weren't allowed dogs at school. The manor felt empty without her; he hadn't gotten used to being indoors yet. Amelia came home late in the evenings, and the house-elves tended to steer clear of him.
At least that gave him the opportunity to explore and investigate.
As Gipsy passed her mistress' study on her way to the kitchen, she heard some noises from inside. It was as if someone was trashing the room in search of something.
She wrung her hands, not sure what to do. Her mistress had told her never to enter a room without permission, but the noises were getting louder and louder, as if the intruder was getting frustrated. That was what decided it. Tentatively, Gipsy summoned all of her courage to reach for the doorknob and opened the door.
Inside, she found Snuffles sitting on a pile of papers. Gipsy frowned. She could have sworn that that a human inside, but as she looked around the room, she saw that the windows were still safely bolted in place, that there was no hiding place where someone could have disappeared from view. Her gaze settled on the dog, Snuffles. She felt her fear dissipate, to be replaced by anger. Narrowing her eyes, she put her hands on her hips disapprovingly.
"Shoo. That doggy gets out from mistress' room."
Snuffles just growled at the old elf, brushing past her on the way out.
Gipsy huffed. Now she would have to clear the smell of dog from the room before her mistress came back.
-x-
When Susan returned from Hogwarts, her mood was sadder. She didn't talk much to Amelia and mostly keep to herself. Once alone, she faced Snuffles, the only person… well, dog… that she felt understood her. That was when the words started to tumble out.
"You know, Snuffles, Cedric — Cedric Diggory — he's dead. Everyone is in shock. Some say that Harry killed him." She missed the whine Snuffles made and kept talking. "Harry said He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned and he's the one who murdered Cedric. To be honest, I don't know what to think about that. All I know is that I feel bad for Cedric's parents. I completely understand what it feels like, to lose someone. At least they can cherish their memories of him. I don't have anything left of my parents."
While Susan kept talking, Snuffles made a decision. She deserved to know. He immediately got up and nudged her, before running off, trusting that she would follow.
"Hey, wait, where are you going?" she asked, cutting off her internal musing and running after him.
-x-
When Amelia returned, the whole house was deathly quiet. She sighed, rubbing her sore neck. Today was another useless day since the Aurors hadn't found any clue of him. Entering her study, she finds Susan sitting on her chair, her face expressionless as she stared at the pieces of paper in her hand. Snuffles was sitting by the chair.
Amelia cautiously approached Susan. The girl knew she wasn't supposed to be in Amelia's study, so for her to be there, something major had to have happened.
When Susan spoke, her face was blank and her tone was flat "Need to tell me anything, Aunt Amelia — or should I say, Mother?"
Amelia's eyes widened in shock, Susan threw two papers at her, which she clumsily caught. She glanced down at the papers, her face going pale. They were Susan's birth certificate and her adoption paper. She looked up to see Susan glaring daggers at her.
"I'm glad they didn't blood-adopted me or I would never have found out." Susan chuckled bitterly. 'Then again, maybe they would have been better parents than you've ever been."
Amelia took a step forwards, but Snuffles growled at her threateningly.
"Susan, I can explain-" Amelia started, but Susan cut her off.
"Explain what? How you made me believe that I'm an orphan and you're doing a huge favor by raising me?" she asked, sarcasm lacing her voice.
"That isn't true; I love you more than anything. I was nineteen when I found out that I was pregnant with you. When I went to tell your father, I saw him with another woman and decided against it. Then I find out that my brother and his wife had lost their child and could never have children again. You should've seen Mary's face. She was distraught and heartbroken. That's when I decided to give you to them," Amelia said as Susan listened carefully.
"What about my father?" she asked.
Amelia just sighed. "Merlin knows where he is. Last I heard, the Aurors we're looking for him."
"Aurors?" Susan questioned.
"Uh, he's an escaped convict of Azkaban. He was charged for murdering thirteen muggles and — "
Before she could complete her sentence, someone shouted.
"That is complete bullshit. I haven't murdered anyone and you know it." Both women whipped around. Where Snuffles had been now stood a man with long black hair and tattered clothes. Susan immediately recognized him.
"Sirius Black!" she exclaimed, taking a step back and covering her mouth in shock.
"I'm your father, Susan," he said, rather dramatically. Amelia rolled her eyes, but moved to protect Susan, her hand on her wand.
"B-but I don't understand. How did you enter this house? Aunt — Mother has magical wards here; no one can enter with permission."
"You brought me here, remember?" Sirius said.
Then it clicked for Susan.
"Y-you're Snuffles. You used me to stay here," she accused him, her voice trembling.
Sirius just shook his head. "No, Susan, I could never betray you like that," he said.
"Wow, my aunt is actually my mother and my dog is my father. Who would've thought that?" she said sarcastically before leaving in a haste.
"What are we going to do?" Amelia asked.
"Give her some time," Sirius said wearily, sliding into an armchair. "We need a bit of a talk ourselves."
-x-
Susan didn't talk to her parents at all, preferring to keep to herself and walk in the forest. But then she tripped over something one day, while cleaning her room. It was Snuffles' chew toy. She picked it up, both happy and sad to see it.
Sitting on the bed, turning it over and over in her hands, she remembered their happy days. Though they had both lied to her and hidden things, at least her parents are alive and here for her, and that should be something that mattered .
Feeling as though it was too much, she left the toy on her bed and ran out of the room. The sight before her stopped her in her tracks. There was her former teacher, Professor Lupin, in the hall talking to her mother.
"Professor Lupin, what are you doing here?" she asked, confused. Ever since the summer, it felt as though her life had turned topsy-turvy.
Professor Lupin just smiled at her. "Hello, Susan. It seems you have something I need to take care of."
On cue, Sirius entered the room and hugged Remus. "Ready?" he asked.
Sirius nodded.
"Wait, where are you going?" Susan asked.
Sirius faced his daughter and spoke. "I'm leaving, since I'm still on the run. I can't stay here forever."
Susan's eyes went huge. "No, y-you can't go. I just found you both. and you just can't leave. Please don't leave, Daddy," Susan said desperately, feeling as though she were a small girl learning about her parents' deaths again. She couldn't shake the feeling that she would never see him again.
Sirius was shocked to hear Susan calling him Daddy. Since she found out, she had always referred to Amelia as Mother, keeping the distance between them. He gently cupped her face and said, "Once I prove my innocence, I'll return for you. Then you, Harry and I will live like a real family."
He ignored how Amelia's face fell when he didn't mention her.
"Harry as in Harry Potter?"
"Yes, he's my godson," Sirius explained, then turned to face Amelia and said, "Take care of my daughter."
Before the mother or daughter could say anything, Sirius shifted into Snuffles and left with Remus while Susan and Amelia watched after him longingly.