People. People who need people are the luckiest people in the world. We're children needing other children and yet letting our grown-up pride hide all the hurt inside, acting more like children than children ... do.
Grimm looked up into the face of his mistress. He was relieved to see tears starting to course down her cheeks. Rearing up onto his hind legs, the big black dog started licking the salt from the withered old cheeks.
His mistress ... 'Minnie' she was called by her friends of which there were few. 'Miss Minnie' to the children who loved her and always had a smile and wave when they passed her, even years after having been her student. Even after they had moved on to success themselves.
How could a dog be relieved to see a human's tears, you ask? Well, while Miss Minnie was a perfectly ordinary Muggle, Grimm was no ordinary dog. He was a wizard, a wizard in animagus form. A wizard hiding out from all of Britain, both muggle and magical alike. A wizard whose real name was Sirius Black.
He had come back to Britain because his godson, Harry Potter, had been enrolled in his school's Tri-Wizard tournament without his knowledge by someone. Someone who wanted the boy dead.
At first, Sirius had lived in a cave on the hill with his flying hippogriff, Buckbeak. However, while hippogriffs were used to sleeping in caves during snowstorms, wizards much preferred warm firesides. Miss Minnie had come across him, thin and shivering, as he hunted for rats to eat one night. He had traveled farther than he normally did outside of Hogsmeade, the wizarding town, and found himself at the edge of a Muggle village. It had been due to snow later that evening, possibly a blizzard in the works. The elderly ex-teacher had invited him, after much head-patting and tail-wagging, to her home for 'a spot of beef to put some meat on those old bones.'
It had been almost half a year since Grimm had come to live with Miss Minnie. In that time, he'd gotten to know the elderly Muggle very well. She was very lonely, he had been quick to note. She had never married or held any other job than that of teacher in a primary school near her home. After thirty-three years of faithful service, just as she was getting ready to plan her retirement, the school district, in its infinite wisdom, had decided that it was losing money on the retirement packages being offered to those teachers nearing retirement age. It was whispered that they were to be 'let go' before their retirement agreement would have to be met. So, Miss Minnie, 'caught' in the act of hugging a beaten child in her room had been accused of 'sexual acts against a minor' and 'excused' from her 'duties.'
That had been five years ago. Now her retirement savings were spent and Miss Minnie, though well-loved by all, was looking at life on the streets.
"I guess you'll be wanting to go out tonight for your rendevous, hmm, boy?" Minnie's voice called the dog from his revelrie. "Every Monday night, 7:45, you're begging to go out. Well, it's 7:44 now. Don't want to keep your date waiting, do you, boy?" Minnie laughed. "I'll be up until 10:30. Bark when you get back. It's good to have friends."
With a woof, Grimm bounded out the open door, but halted at the sound of Minnie's voice behind him. "If you should happen to find a boarding school in need of an old prune of a teacher who loves children, put in a good word for me, hmm, boy." Seeing the dog standing on the porch looking back at her, Minnie laughed. "Oh, don't mind me. Run along and have fun. I can't believe I just said that to my DOG! I must be getting more senile than I thought." Chuckling ruefully, she went to shut the door again.
With another merry 'woof' that he knew would draw a laugh, Sirius bounded down the front steps, tongue flying out behind him. Why hadn't he thought of it before? Wasn't his 'date' the elderly headmaster of the best wizarding school in the world? A headmaster who was currently looking for someone to fill the up-coming vacancy in the Muggle Studies post?
Maybe Miss Minnie wouldn't have to become a bag-lady after all. Not if he could help it anyway...
Grimm looked up into the face of his mistress. He was relieved to see tears starting to course down her cheeks. Rearing up onto his hind legs, the big black dog started licking the salt from the withered old cheeks.
His mistress ... 'Minnie' she was called by her friends of which there were few. 'Miss Minnie' to the children who loved her and always had a smile and wave when they passed her, even years after having been her student. Even after they had moved on to success themselves.
How could a dog be relieved to see a human's tears, you ask? Well, while Miss Minnie was a perfectly ordinary Muggle, Grimm was no ordinary dog. He was a wizard, a wizard in animagus form. A wizard hiding out from all of Britain, both muggle and magical alike. A wizard whose real name was Sirius Black.
He had come back to Britain because his godson, Harry Potter, had been enrolled in his school's Tri-Wizard tournament without his knowledge by someone. Someone who wanted the boy dead.
At first, Sirius had lived in a cave on the hill with his flying hippogriff, Buckbeak. However, while hippogriffs were used to sleeping in caves during snowstorms, wizards much preferred warm firesides. Miss Minnie had come across him, thin and shivering, as he hunted for rats to eat one night. He had traveled farther than he normally did outside of Hogsmeade, the wizarding town, and found himself at the edge of a Muggle village. It had been due to snow later that evening, possibly a blizzard in the works. The elderly ex-teacher had invited him, after much head-patting and tail-wagging, to her home for 'a spot of beef to put some meat on those old bones.'
It had been almost half a year since Grimm had come to live with Miss Minnie. In that time, he'd gotten to know the elderly Muggle very well. She was very lonely, he had been quick to note. She had never married or held any other job than that of teacher in a primary school near her home. After thirty-three years of faithful service, just as she was getting ready to plan her retirement, the school district, in its infinite wisdom, had decided that it was losing money on the retirement packages being offered to those teachers nearing retirement age. It was whispered that they were to be 'let go' before their retirement agreement would have to be met. So, Miss Minnie, 'caught' in the act of hugging a beaten child in her room had been accused of 'sexual acts against a minor' and 'excused' from her 'duties.'
That had been five years ago. Now her retirement savings were spent and Miss Minnie, though well-loved by all, was looking at life on the streets.
"I guess you'll be wanting to go out tonight for your rendevous, hmm, boy?" Minnie's voice called the dog from his revelrie. "Every Monday night, 7:45, you're begging to go out. Well, it's 7:44 now. Don't want to keep your date waiting, do you, boy?" Minnie laughed. "I'll be up until 10:30. Bark when you get back. It's good to have friends."
With a woof, Grimm bounded out the open door, but halted at the sound of Minnie's voice behind him. "If you should happen to find a boarding school in need of an old prune of a teacher who loves children, put in a good word for me, hmm, boy." Seeing the dog standing on the porch looking back at her, Minnie laughed. "Oh, don't mind me. Run along and have fun. I can't believe I just said that to my DOG! I must be getting more senile than I thought." Chuckling ruefully, she went to shut the door again.
With another merry 'woof' that he knew would draw a laugh, Sirius bounded down the front steps, tongue flying out behind him. Why hadn't he thought of it before? Wasn't his 'date' the elderly headmaster of the best wizarding school in the world? A headmaster who was currently looking for someone to fill the up-coming vacancy in the Muggle Studies post?
Maybe Miss Minnie wouldn't have to become a bag-lady after all. Not if he could help it anyway...