Padfoot's Puppy

Chapter Twelve

'She's So Fetch'

For Amber, the days all seemed to merge together. There weren't many windows in the Headquarters, and the few there was were so dirty and grimy, that it was impossible to see out of them. No one in the Headquarters really had a normal sleeping routine either; everyone just seemed to sleep whenever they wanted to. Mrs. Weasley would send her children to bed, but they would stay awake for hours. A constant stream of witches and wizards still came through the Headquarters, and there was double the amount of meetings held. Amber was glad that the Weasley kids seemed to be as frustrated as she was.

At least she wasn't lonely anymore. Amber had never really been around people her own age before, and she relished every second of it, even though the Weasleys were convinced that she was a dog.

Amber had me the eldest son, Bill, a few times, and she didn't mind him. He'd been nice to her, something Amber had noticed didn't seem to be common in most full-grown witches and wizards.

Amber had never met the second and third oldest sons, but she'd heard a few things about them. Charlie was studying dragons somewhere, Romania maybe, while Percy was working for the Ministry of Magic. What confused Amber most was how Mrs. Weasley broke out into loud sobs anytime Percy's name was mentioned.

Fred and George were Amber's favorites, they were always so happy and carefree, pulling pranks on everybody. Amber figured that the reason she liked them so much was because she wanted to be like them. To be able to laugh and really be happy, to not worry all the time and to simply just prank someone, something she had never done.

Amber didn't mind Ron, but she found him to be a little bit too pessimistic for her liking. Amber decided that he needed to lighten up a bit.

After the twins, Ginny was Amber's second favorite. She was nice, cheerful, and humorously sarcastic. She was always able to put her brothers back in their place.

Though she was now pretty good at pretending to be a dog, there was one thing that Amber found hard to overcome: fetch. The dreaded game in which a dog must retrieve a thrown object, like a ball or a Frisbee, and return it to their owner. Then, the object would be thrown again and the dog is expected to retrieve it as many times as their owner wishes, their tails wagging pathetically the whole time.

George was the one who started it. He and his siblings had been sprawled out on the living room floor with Amber nearby, their parents, Sirius, Tonks and Remus all on the couch or in chairs. George had absentmindedly been throwing an old, battered tennis ball up into the air and catching it as it came back down. Suddenly, his face lit up as he got an idea.

"Hey Lupin, does Snowy play fetch?" He asked. For a second, Remus just stared at George. Slowly, he shrugged, a smile forming on his lips.

"I don't know, we've never tried to play with her, but you can. Maybe Snowy will be nice and fetch for you." He said, trying hard not to laugh. Amber was horrified, why would Remus do that? Why wouldn't he just say no and spare Amber the torture? He couldn't possibly expect her to play that wretched game!

But apparently he did, because when George tossed the ball, Remus stared at her expectantly. Amber stared back, refusing to run after the ball.

"Come on Snowy, go get the ball!" Sirius said with a grin. Amber turned her head towards him, glaring at him. There was no way she was chasing after that stupid ball, like some kind of idiot!

"Snowy, go get the ball, go on!" George was saying. Amber stared at Sirius and Remus with the best puppy-dog look she could muster, but apparently, both of them had hearts of stone. They did nothing except to tell Amber to go get the ball, both of them grinning. Amber knew that she had lost.

Moving slowly, as though it were killing her, Amber got up and walked carefully towards the ball, resent showing in every step. When she got to it, Amber smelled it, and immediately jerked her head back. It smelled like old socks.

With a glare at Sirius and Remus, Amber lowered her head and shuddered as she picked up the ball with her teeth. Fighting the urge to gag, Amber tried to ignore the taste of dust and old rubber. Quickly, she brought the ball back to George, dropping it right in front of him.

"That's a good girl!" George praised. Then, to Amber's horror, he threw the ball again! Sirius and Remus were trying their hardest not to laugh. Amber had to force herself to fetch the ball as the Weasley kids took turns tossing it for her.

Chasing after the ball after Ginny threw it, Amber was forced to skid to a quick stop to avoid colliding with the little creature that had just walked into the room. Amber immediately recognized it as a house elf, and an ugly one at that.

All at once, all of the Weasley kids began to talk at once. Amber couldn't understand a word she was saying, but apparently Sirius and Remus could as they started to answer questions.

"He's our house elf, Kreacher."

"No he's not a spy!"

"Or a Death Eater!"

"Yes, we're sure."

"No you can't hex him!"

"Kreacher just get out of here!" Sirius said dismissively to the elf. Kreacher nodded as she eyes went over everyone in the room with disdain.

"What master wants is what master gets." He said with an evil look. He didn't move though, he stayed where he was, studying everybody.

"My mistress would never allow filthy traitors in her house!" Kreacher spat, his eyes resting on the Weasleys.

"Or tainted half-bloods (Remus) or any filthy scum (Amber) oh what has master done to his mother's house?" Kreacher wailed. By now, Sirius was shaking with anger, and everyone else was staring at Kreacher in shock.

"Kreacher, get out of here now!" Sirius said, his voice shaking with anger. Kreacher nodded and bowed, actually leaving this time.

"He's a right cheerful fellow." Fred said sarcastically. Everyone laughed, and some of the tension was lifted. Amber was just glad that everyone seemed to have forgotten about fetch.

"Tonks we better get going." Remus said a few minutes later, glancing at his watch. Tonks nodded, and both she and Remus stood up.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked. Remus smiled.

"To pick up a surprise for you." He said. Immediately Ron looked interested.

"What kind of surprise?" He asked. Remus glanced at Mrs. Weasley, who was beaming at her son. Her other children scowled at their brother.

"You'll see!" Remus said as he and Tonks left, leaving Ron looking slightly disappointed.

Later that night, Amber was in the bathroom attacked to her room, brushing her teeth. She wouldn't rest until the taste of that stupid old tennis ball was gone. Sirius was sitting on her bed, stroking Buckbeak gently.

"That was mean, just mean!" Amber said once she was finally satisfied. Sirius laughed.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad. Anyway, look at the bright side; you won't get sick because dogs can break down germs better than humans can. Besides, I've had to eat way worse things as a dog than that!" He said. Amber made a face.

"Ew, ew, ew! I don't want to hear it!" Amber cried covering her ears. Sirius smiled, and Buckbeak stared at her, looking slightly confused.

"And I don't want to talk about it. Anyway, you should go to bed." Sirius said, standing up. Amber nodded and crawled into bed as Sirius walked towards the door.

"Hey Sirius?" Amber called. Sirius stopped walking and looked back at her, slightly confused looking.

"Goodnight." Amber said rather timidly. Sirius smiled.

"Goodnight." He replied, blinking back tears. Amber never noticed, she'd already closed her eyes, a smile on her face.

Author's Note: I watched mean girls lately…and one girl says fetch a lot, that's how I got the idea for the title of this chapter…wow I am weird…My chapters still not that long though…I only want it a little bit longer…just a tiny bit!

Oh and by the way, I actually love playing fetch with my dog, I can play it for hours, but then again, I'm not the one who has to carry the ball/stick/anything else I can find around the house/rock in my mouth…