Violet peeked out of her door. The dog was in the same position as it was last night but was clearly awake as he turned his head at the sound of the door opening. He didn't seem particularly bothered, simply huffing out a breath and laying his head back down. She took that as a good sign and slowly eased into the living room.
"Everything's ok," she said in a calm voice, for her or the dog, she wasn't sure. "I'm just getting some breakfast for both of us."
The dog yawned but then let out a loud whine and moved its injured paw forward.
"Alright, I'm coming. Don't fuss."
She filled up a large bowl with water and grabbed several small hand towels before going back to the living room.
"Try to stay still," she told him, kneeling down to pet him. The dog put his head down, seemingly content, and Violet gingerly picked up his paw to better examine it. The blood was still covering most of his paw but the cut didn't seem as bad as it had initially appeared last night. She dipped a washcloth into the water and began wiping off the blood as gently as she could without pressing too much on the injury.
The dog stayed still as she cleaned it but pulled away once she reached for the bandages. Violet paused and reached again for his paw but he tucked it under his body and bared his teeth at her in warning.
She held her hands up and backed away into the kitchen. After rummaging through her junk drawer, she scrounged up a pen and a torn scrap of parchment to scribble out a quick note.
"Hermes!"
Her tawny owl preferred living in the large tree outside her house but always came when she called. He ruffled his feathers with an annoyed hoot but still let her tie her letter to his leg.
20 minutes later, Violet was still perched on her kitchen counter when she heard the sound of her front door opening.
"Vi? You there? Is everything- Mother of Merlin!"
"I'm in the kitchen," she called out, unbothered. She was pretty sure the dog wouldn't actually do anything to Matt. Probably. Matt ran in looking utterly frazzled, pressing his back against the wall.
"What in the world was that?" His voice was several octaves higher than usual.
"Remember I told you about the animal in the woods that has everyone freaked out?"
"Oh my God, Violet." Matt let out a large groan and dropped his head in his hands. "What is it doing in your living room?"
"It was hurt!"
"So call a vet or animal control! You don't bring it into your house!"
"I wasn't thinking, ok? I just don't really know what to do with it now." She bit her lip. Matt heaved a large sigh and looked at her with a frown — all a bit dramatic in Violet's view but he was helping her out so she stayed quiet.
"First thing's first. We go into a room that actually has a door!"
Violet shrugged. "I'm pretty sure he won't hurt us but we can go into my room."
She hopped off the counter before he could protest and walked through the living room. Matt let out a yelp behind her and scrambled to follow. The dog, who was laying on the couch, simply threw a lazy glance at them and continued licking his paw.
Matt slammed the door shut when they reached her bedroom and put at least half a dozen protection charms on the doorway.
"Ok, if I Stupify it, I might be able to levitate it back out. How do you feel about distracting it?"
"I don't think I need him to get out. Knocking him out would be helpful in fixing his paw though."
"You want to keep it?!"
"You're going to need a name if you stay here," she mused out loud. "What do you think?"
The dog bumped his wet nose against her hand in what she assumed was agreement, his tongue lolling out of his mouth in what almost looked like a smile. Violet reached out to scratch his head, smiling back fondly.
"He's not exactly a Fluffy," Matt said with a snort. "Killer seems more accurate."
"Hey, leave him alone! You're not a killer at all, are you?" she crooned to the dog, who happily licked her face.
"What about Grimm? If I saw him in the woods, I would definitely think I was about to die," Alice chimed in, taking a big bite of cereal she had taken from Violet's kitchen.
"No! He's just- ack, what-?" she exclaimed. The dog had shoved his wet nose into her hand, making loud snuffling noises.
"He's just sniffling a bit, he's fine," Alice spoke unconcernedly through a mouthful of Fruit Loops. "What about Bruno? I feel like he could be a Bruno."
"You're not going to try to convince her to put the wild animal back into the woods?" Matt was still alarmed.
"Nah. He looks like a normal dog, just bigger. He's pretty chill so far anyway."
"All it takes is for him to decide he's hungry and the food that Violet feeds him isn't enough!"
"Relax." Alice rolled her eyes. "If you wanted someone to talk her out of this, you should have called Harmony."
"We both know Harmony would pass out at the sight of this. You were my only other option, come on!"
"Sniffles," Violet repeated slowly. The dog cocked his head, then licked her hand. "You like that, don't you?"
"Oh, great. She's talking to the dog like it can respond," Alice muttered to Matt, who only shook his head in despair.
"That's a cute dog name, right? Sniffles?" The dog wagged his tail happily.
Alice shrugged. "I could see it."
"You're both crazy." Matt threw his hands up.
"I have a good feeling about him." Violet scratched behind Sniffles' head.
Matt and Alice eventually left after it became apparent that she wasn't going to change her mind, with promises of checking in tomorrow to see if she "had been mauled to death" (Matt's words). So Violet was left alone with a new dog and no supplies to take care of him whatsoever.
"Dog food, a visit to the vet, some toys," she muttered as she wrote down a list of everything she'd need. She sighed. Maybe she wasn't quite ready to be a pet owner but he'd at least need a place to sleep for the night.
Violet finally got ready for bed, changing into her favorite pajamas with the little gryphons on them (a stressful day called for comfort). She had some spare blankets she could use to make some sort of bed for the dog in the living room, she thought as she brushed her teeth. And after that, well, maybe Matt was right. He was a huge dog after all and she wasn't in the greatest state of mind to take care of another living being herself.
When she stepped out of her bathroom, all worries vanished at the sight of the giant black dog sprawled across the foot of her bed.
"Oh no. You can stay here but not on the bed!"
July.
"Sniffles, come back to bed!" Violet called out anxiously, already tucked in. If he didn't come to bed on time, she couldn't sleep well alone anymore. He padded in from the living room and with a small leap, landed right at the end of the bed. After he settled over the blankets on her feet, both human and dog fell asleep.
Several weeks after adopting him, Violet had settled into a new weekend routine. Mornings were still spent in the garden but she would go for a run with Sniffles. Her neighbors had learned to stay out of the way when Sniffles was out, most of them terrified by the huge dog despite his rather gentle demeanor, as Violet soon learned. On the bright side, Mrs. Chatterly was too afraid of Sniffles to corner Violet and gossip about the neighborhood the way she used to.
Her nights were slowly taken over with her friends coming over. While they had first begun checking in on her for fear that Sniffles would one day destroy the place, it soon morphed into drinks and a game night. Harmony finally learned about Sniffles. Though trepidatious, she still came over and just made sure to sit as far away from Sniffles as possible. Alice naturally was Sniffles' favorite as she constantly fed and played with him, but even Matt had taken to absentmindedly petting him when they watched a movie.
August.
As the summer started to near its end, Violet found herself surprisingly content. She knew it was a quiet temporary happiness that came with the niggling feeling that something was missing, but it was nice to stay this way for a bit nonetheless.
"The Ministry is really about to lose it trying to find this madman Sirius Black." Matt frowned as he read the newspaper. "I just hope they find him before he murders someone else."
"Who? Black, the hot one?"
"Alice!" Harmony and Matt immediately scolded. Violet couldn't help but snicker as Alice sent a sly wink her way.
"Have you seen his pictures from his Hogwarts days and right after? The man had something going for him."
"Have you seen his mugshot?" Harmony countered.
"Look, I'm just saying that 12 years in Azkaban would cause anyone to look a mess and we shouldn't hold that against him. Still, you can't help but wonder how he did it. Man had to be pretty brilliant to get away from the dementors."
A silence fell over the group at the mention of dementors. Violet had only encountered them once in passing but even that was enough to cause her mood to turn.
"So," Alice spoke up, dropping a pack of cards on the table. "Poker or blackjack?"
As they began to play (Harmony was always surprisingly good at this "for an annoyingly honest Hufflepuff," Alice would say), Sniffles let out a whine and laid his head on Violet's lap.
"You ok?" She scratched him behind the ears. He mournfully gazed up at her, his tail wagging limply.
"Sniffles?" Matt gave a concerned look. For being so adamantly against him in the beginning, Matt quickly became the most attached to the dog and would frequently bring him snacks. "What's wrong with him?"
"I don't know. Lately he's been very affectionate." Violet frowned.
"I'm sure he'll get happier once fall has started."
"I hope so." She gave him one last pat before turning back to her cards. "I call."
Sniffles slept on her bed as usual that night. But the next morning, Violet woke up alone. Despite vast searches around town with her friends and posters put up everywhere, Sniffles was nowhere to be found.
Ten months later, Albus Dumbledore knocked on her door with a shabby werewolf and a large black dog in tow.
