Chapter 02

• Dog •

Sleep.

It was the very first thing Harry could remember thinking after everything was gone. He hadn't slept most of the day because of the girl and Dudley. Now he was in the woods, far past the sunset and he was tired.

Harry looked around. It may be dead but he had to find something to sleep in.

The mind does strange things when you're lost and alone. Harry soon found himself crawling into a warm blanket of pine boughs in a small depression that had somehow carved itself into nearby roots.

Not caring what it was from, Harry slept.

A terrible dream haunted Harry's thoughts when he awoke.

The darkness surrounded him, and he disappeared into it. No one cared. No one saw him as he struggled to push it away, it enfolded him, ensnared him, sucked him into a bleak dark gloominess that would not let him go. In a matter of a few minutes he no longer existed in the world, and no one cared.

But waking was no better than sleeping. No matter how much Harry despised his aunt and uncle they were the thing that made him alive. They were the reason he still existed. They saw him.

The previous night filled his mind and he sat up straightaway. He looked both directions to find that he was sleeping in dirt. Petunia would be furious. He didn't realize that she would not be furious because she didn't know. So Harry dusted himself off as best as possible and went in search of everyone.

He wasn't afraid at first. He had already spent much time in the dark recesses of the house hiding or being punished. The woods were freedom and he enjoyed freedom.

But not for long.

At first it was just a tingling in his stomach, even the shock of being alone did not push away the thirst he was beginning to have. Between breakfast and noon it went from a mere passing desire to in intense craving. He still had no idea where he was or where he was going, so he just continued walking until the night came again.

His mind changed a little as night came again, but only a little. It was an unconscious reaction to his new environment and Harry had no idea how much this place would change him. His young mind simply conformed to its new environment.

Then, he found a place to sleep for the night.

It was as much a necessity as a luxury. Along the side of his path he noticed a dark rock, something he may have never noticed before, and he moved to it. It was more than just a dark rock. It was the entrance to a small cave. It wasn't big it seemed, but then, Harry didn't need anything big, just enough to keep him out of the open. He knew that the forest wasn't safe at night, but he didn't really think about it he just survived.

When he awoke the next morning there was no nightmare, no dreams at all that he could remember. He just stood, brushing away the pine boughs he had gathered the night before and continued walking.

His thirst was back, and it filled him, made him ache for water as he never had before. He stumbled occasionally, cutting himself and bruising his body.

Finally at one point Harry decided to follow one of the many narrow trails that had been cut into the forest from the consistent use. After hours he at last came to a stream and fell into it, gorging himself on the cool water. He didn't see the startled animal that had scampered off into the bushes only a few feet away.

Laying in the water, staring at the tree's above him Harry suddenly felt better. Enough that it didn't matter if the Dursley's forgot him, he knew he existed and that was what mattered.

Something changed in him right then, it was not the realization he no longer needed the Dursley's. It wasn't some magical power he'd been endowed with. It was something that requires no thought, something primitive that had begun awakening in him.

When Harry stepped away from the pool of water that had formed he was not the same child that had entered it. His eyes caught a gentle movement it would have never caught before. His ears perked up and he could hear an animal nearby, breathing.

Frightened, he looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. Nothing moved at all, it seemed even the wind had died down. Not wanting to find out what was watching him Harry, stumbled back, heading away from the creek.

As his trail led further from the creek he slowed, he didn't want to loose his water source now that he'd found it. His eyes continued to search the road ahead, noticing even the slightest thing that might have passed him before. An outcropping of rocks caught his attention, it seemed very much like the place he'd spent the first night, which had seemed the safest place so far.

Slowing, Harry examined it from afar. It was two rocks that pushed against each other, forming a hollowed out half-dome. It was not somewhere that looked like Harry could sleep though, the ground was covered in an odd sort of ground cover that looked dangerous. Not wanting to rule out the possibility Harry closed in on it, wanting to examine it further.

Some red berries on the path distracted him and he remembered that he hadn't eaten in several days. He didn't know if they were something he could eat, but they looked juicy and plump. His Hunger overwhelmed him and he took a few. He'd over filled himself with water so other than the hunger itself he was full, he only dropped a few of the berries into his mouth to taste them. They were sweet, but not overly so.

Something growled nearby and Harry dropped the other berries he'd picked, not wanting to deal with whatever creature was watching him he headed for the refuge he'd discovered. Hopefully it was empty.

What he found wasn't what he expected.

Being a child and so inexperienced in the forest, he wasn't looking for signs of life, and he might've missed them even if he had. They were old though, and the area seemed to be empty of creatures for the time being. The pursuer of Harry didn't seem to like the area and he never heard it.

The whole area was almost perfectly suited for a camp. It was a protected clearing, with bushes and fallen tree's surrounding it. The tree's that hadn't fallen were so old that their roots had bubbled out of the ground several feet and intertwined with each other on one side, protecting the area from any harsh winds. The area felt appeasing to Harry, but none of the other animals, they actually avoided the area entirely.

At first Harry only inspected the surroundings. A small bubbling brook provided water to the plant life inside the grove. Harry didn't examine the plants right away nor the berries, he was worried that something else might not be happy if he should. He didn't want that.

The grove wasn't big, but to Harry, used to living in a cupboard, it was monstrous and open. After the sun began to set Harry went to gather pine boughs, his stomach starting to bother him. By the time he'd gathered enough to make a bed he was so sick that he could barely move. His stomach was sending sharp pains into the rest of his body, almost completely immobilizing him.

He collapsed into the boughs, not even trying to find a comfortable place to lay, it just hurt. For several hours Harry moaned. He could hear the night in the distance, but he felt relatively safe until something came close. The dark masked the animals presence but he could hear it breathing again and he grew afraid. He couldn't move this time, and he doubted that he could fight it off if it wanted to.

Shutting his eyes and hoping for the best Harry waited. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes to hours. Harry occasionally yelped in pain because it was too great to suppress. He started wishing he was at home again, in a room where he was safe when something whined. He opened eyes to find something right in front of his face. Gasping Harry tried to push it away, but his arms hurt too much. The creature backed up slightly and whined again. Harry started to see the rest of it more clearly. It was a dirty white, but enough to stand out in the night. The wet nose that had been pressed in his face extended further to a small body of a dog. Its forked tail stuck up in the air, and Harry saw it must've been hurt.

"You hurt too?" He whispered to it.

The dog, sensing the boy was friendly stepped forward and licked his face. Harry laughed lightly, having never felt the sensation of the rough tongue along his face. The only one's he'd ever been near where Aunt Marge's and they weren't nice at all, the didn't like Harry either.

Pain still abundant, Harry was glad the dog was nice, and he felt a sense of security as it laid down next to him.

The dog stepped back when Harry closed his eyes, it trotted around the clearing, sniffing the air. It had a new master now, and felt protective of it. It hadn't had a master in some time and knew the dangers of the forest well. When he felt the perimeter was safe enough it trotted back to the boy and laid down next to him, it's ears still listening for any signs of trouble.

Harry awoke from a horrible dream, but found himself warmer than he'd been the previous nights. He remember a dog, though not clearly, but he remembered it had come to him and slept with him the previous night, making him comfortable enough to sleep even with the pain. The dog however was nowhere to be seen. Harry was feeling much better once the poison of the berries had run through his system. He was lucky he'd only eater a few berries, it had saved him from getting deathly ill. Had he continued eating them he would not have likely survived the next day.

A yapp caught him off guard and Harry looked up to see a white dog standing at the edge of the clearing, with something hanging from his mouth. Harry's eyes widened when he realized the dream from the night before had not been a dream, that the dog had indeed come.

It trotted forward and dropped the items it was carrying at Harry's feet. Harry bent down to examine them, they looked like potatoes, and Harry picked one of them up and looked at it. It wasn't like any potato he'd ever seen. The dog, thinking that Harry was allowing him to have the other grabbed it and ripped into it, taking large chunks from it and eating heartily.

Harry stared at it for a minute, wondering how it tasted. It wriggled in his hand and a sharp pain entered into one of his fingers. Oddly enough, the potato seemed to have teeth and tiny eyes. Harry shook his hand hard, finally making it stop when the potato struck a rock near Harry's hand. It fell to the ground and Harry stared at it, not sure what to do. The dog sniffed it and then nudged it towards Harry.

More careful this time Harry picked up the potato and sniffed it. The dog had already finished the one that it had taken a bite of. Carefully Harry bit a small chunk of it, having a rough time ripping through its skin. When he was able to bite into it he found that inside it was very tender, and tasted nothing like a potato, but much more like a hamburger. Harry took another bite, and finished it rather quickly.

It didn't taste so bad, nothing like some of the cooking that he'd had to endure at the Dursley's.

The dog looked up at him expectantly, wanting his master to thank him. Harry smiled and looked down at the dog, wondering what it was called. "You not have home?"

The dog wined. Harry stared at it smiling, at least he wouldn't be completely alone now. For the rest of the day Harry gathered the largest things he could pull and dragged them back into the clearing. He had never made a shelter before but he knew he'd need one.

Dog (so named because Harry could not think of anything to call him) tagged alone, whining quietly when he sensed any animal. It was amazing how easily the two came to rely on each other. Dog wanted to protect, to have someone, while Harry just needed a friend and a way to survive. By night Harry had assembled a tiny shelter that resembled the tent he'd slept in when he was camping.

With Dog beside him the night was much warmer, and he didn't shiver constantly like he had the few nights before. It also helped that the spot he was close to, between the rocks seemed to emanate warmth from the plants.

Another day came, and another and another. Eventually the nights became weeks and the tiny shelter that Harry had assembled started to grow. It fell twice before he discovered a way to keep it standing firmly. The clearing served Harry well, fresh berries grew on one side, left alone by the rest of the animals of the forest. That wasn't his only food, Harry ate everything that looked as if it were at all edible. He learned quickly to eat a small amount first, making sure that it wouldn't make him sick. Then, after he was confident that he wasn't going to be made ill he'd eat a little more.

Never straying far from the clearing, Harry fell into an easy routine. Dog would always go find potatoes if they had little else and he always brought back enough for both of them.

One day, when Harry did venture from the security of his clearing, he strayed too far. Dog was not with him on his expedition and after he'd walked for a few hours he decided to turn back, only to find that he did not know where he was. He laid on the ground, feeling scared afraid for the first time in weeks, he no longer had Dog with him.

When the night fell the cold swept over the boy, cuddling him like a blanket and causing his body to shiver constantly from the unnatural cold.

As the night came so did the creatures of the dark. Many slipped past, some even stopping to smell the new scent. A few even knew of it and continued on, not wanting to be troubled by the creature.

One alone stopped. It wasn't a large creature, nor would it have been a formidable beast for even the young boy to fight, but, it had brother and sisters that would be. The eyes refracted upon the body and it scuttled around the boy, deciding what to make of it. Finally it too turned and disappeared into the forest.

Harry woke with to a clicking sound. His body was cold and he had a hard time getting up at first. It had rained lightly at some point during the night, but between the rain and the dew the whole forest floor was soaked. The clicking that he'd heard came closer and Harry trembled, he didn't like the sound.

A large spider scuttled in front of him and Harry laughed at himself for being afraid of one. It wasn't much larger than his fist, and he didn't think it would hurt him, none of the others he was experienced with ever hurt him. The clicking sounded again and Harry could see that it wasn't from the spider that was in front of him. He got to his feet slowly and the spider that was next to him ran off quickly, not allowing him to reach for it.

Another spider appeared in the distance and Harry faltered. He'd never seen a spider that big, in fact he'd never seen any animal that was as big. He'd heard of elephants, but this could not be an elephant, it was most definitely a spider.

It spotted Harry and Harry could do nothing but stare. It seemed to be the one that was making the clicking sound. It scuttled towards him, all eight of its legs moving so fast that Harry could barely see them. Harry froze in fear, not sure what to do, it was by far faster than him and it looked like it wanted to eat him. There was no way he could defend himself against it. He wasn't even sure that there was a way that he could escape at all.

Finally his mind gained some composure and it knew that if he wanted to have a chance of escaping then he'd need to run now, before the spider got to him. His feet moved under him faster than he ever remembered running, even from Dudley. Somehow the fright of death was causing him to move faster than ever before.

As he rushed through the forest it felt almost as if Harry were having nightmares all over again. This time however, he wouldn't wake up from them, they'd kill him. That was the way that Harry thought it was happening. Nightmares were coming to life, like Dudley but worse.

When the faint path that Harry'd been following changed Harry just continued headed the direction that he'd been headed before. He was moving so fast that there was no way that he'd be able to change direction as sharp as the path had.

When Harry dared to glance back he saw that his pursuers had fallen back as soon as the path had died, they had lost a clear opening and so it was moving around and over things. Occasionally getting into the higher branches, but even there it was too crowded to move around much.

Feeling a little better, but still just as close to death, Harry turned back to face a sharp hill. He did the only thing that his undeveloped mind could think of, continue running down the hill. In some ways it worked, the hill was sharp but he was running fast enough to keep the pace up. However, as the hill bottom grew closer Harry found that even his own pace was not fast enough and between his momentum and the muddy ground he finally tripped.

One foot over another at first, then he went down totally, falling flat on the ground and the bouncing back into the air. His hand caught a tree instinctively, but it did little more than whip him into circles as he fell, spinning in mid air and continually landing in odd ways.

Mud splattered everywhere completely soaking an already wet Harry. Finally, at the bottom of the hill Harry came to a stop in area where a good bit of water had collected. He lay there, quiet, finding that he was now so terrified he could not even groan in pain.

The clicking sound closed in on him again. He couldn't see it because the way he was laying and there was no way he could turn to it. Finally the clicking was overtop him and Harry cringed inside, waiting for the nightmare to finish, hoping he'd wake in a warm bed.

It did not happen. His warm bed was no more than a dream it self. But the clicking sound continued past him and Harry watched silently as the two spiders continued in the path he had been headed. He barely was able to breath at all, his mouth was filled with mud and water but still somehow, air found his lungs and he stayed alive but as still as a statue.

Hours later Harry finally stood, the muck that he'd been laying in having caked to his body and dried in the little sun that filtered through the tree's. One step at a time Harry started towards the direction of the sun. He remembered he'd gone away from it the previous afternoon and so now all he had to do was head for it.

Dog found Harry sitting against a tree, having given up his quest because he felt even more lost before. Dog had faithfully been searching for him since the night before, not ever straying too extremely far from the clearing which had become both their homes. When he found Harry was on a return trip, he caught Harry's faint scent and followed it.

When he approached Harry it was cautious, he could sense fear and death both of which he did not like. Harry welcomed him with open arms, as far open as he could get them, and then slowly followed Dog's lead home.

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