A/n: I couldn't help it. I loved the thought of Ted having a funny looking owl. So, here's to funny looking friends! Cheers!

Take Care of Others

It was a funny looking owl.

Its white feathers were blotchy with large black spots, and it looked sort of like a goose. Well, it had a long neck and a prominently pointed face, as if someone had run the poor creature over with a Muggle car. It had one giant yellow eye, and the other was diminutive, black and beady.

Unlike all the other owls, when this one opened its flattened beak, it screeched a most

bizarre sound, crossed between a hoot and a honk.

In sum, the bird was so damn ugly, so pitifully uncanny, that it was just flat out cool

Teddy knew instantly this deformed thing was supposed to be his owl.

It was strange, just like him. Everyone said Teddy was a bit odd in one way or another, probably because of his shape shifting. There were times when he lost control over his appearance, which usually resulted in embarrassing features.

Teddy instantly felt a strong relation to the uncanny bird.

He turned to Harry. "Please Harry?" he begged. "May I have this one? You said any one I wanted."

Harry's expression betrayed his true feelings. "Ted—"

"I know it's funny looking," Teddy said quickly. "But that's why I like it. I mean, how many owls out there are like this one? It's totally bizarre!"

The bird in the cage hopped around on it's stunted legs, desperately crying "Hoonk, hoonk!" as if to agree with Teddy.

"See, Harry? It needs a home!"

"Teddy, I don't even know if it's an owl."

"It's an owl Harry," Teddy said, determined not to loose this battle. "You're just saying that because it's ugly."

"Yeah, but can it fly? I'm not buying you an owl that can't fly."

The owl flapped its giant splotchy wings. "Hoonk, hoonk!"

"See, Harry? It wants to be friends!"

Harry winced. "Ted, it just— it's butt ugly. Are you sure you want it? Ron's gonna make fun of you for the rest of your life, and your fellow classmates—"

"I get made fun of at school anyways," Teddy said sharply. "My hair is a different color every day, and sometimes I wake up with my eye on the front of my lip. Trust me, Harry, I can hack it. Please?"

It was obvious that Harry was still reluctant. Begging by itself wasn't enough. It was time to initiate Plan B. "Hermoine says that we should take care of things that are different," Teddy said. "Even if they are mean and nasty, or gross looking, everyone deserves to have friends, right?"

That did it. Harry caved. Teddy knew he was triumphant the moment his godfather heaved a heavy sigh.

"God, Ted, if you want it bad enough to pull a 'Hermoine says' on me, I suppose it is your birthday."

"Yes!"

"Hoonk!"

When they brought the owl cage up to the clerk's desk, the lady looked at the three of them with utter amazement. "Are you kidding me?" she shrieked.

The owl flapped its wings and did a funny bopping dance. "Hoonk!"

"It is an owl, right?" Harry asked.

"Oh…oh! Yes, yes, it is an owl," she said. "Been that way since it hatched." The shopkeeper still seemed dazed, but she quickly lowered the price, once and then twince, and then decided to toss in a bag of owl feed.

Finally, after all was said and paid for, Teddy walked out of the shop, bearing the brass cage of his giant feather friend with as much pride as any second year purchasing his first owl. He'd already had a name for it.

"Goose?"

"He looks, like a goose, don't you think?" Teddy asked.

"That silly thing? Yeah, I suppose it does, doesn't it?"

Yes, Goose was a strange creature, but in Teddy's heart he knew he had done right in giving Goose a good home. Everybody deserved to have friends and certainly everybody deserved to be taken care of, even funny looking owls. Harry said that his father would have been proud, which made Teddy even happier.

"Hoonk!"

A/n: It was stupid, but I liked Goose and apparently so did Ted! Whatever. Review.