Man's Best Friend

1,079 words

Lily's day was going well – splendid, in fact. She had spent the majority of it in Hogsmeade, which was covered in a thick blanket of powdery white snow. She and James had been dating for the past six months of their seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and they were spending the afternoon on their own after joining their group of mutual friends at the Three Broomsticks for lunch earlier in the day.

The redheaded witch had made a deal with James that she would accompany him into Zonko's if he, in turn, accompanied her into the small, crammed book shop that was her favorite place in the quaint village. It was that particular book shop that they were leaving when things suddenly took an odd turn at the appearance of the dog.

James had been teasing her as they stepped through the doorway, playfully messing with the Gryffindor scarf around her neck – which was, in fact, his own scarf – when he had suddenly gone very stiff.

"James?" Lily questioned, eyeing him for a moment before following his suspicious gaze.

She was surprised to find that the unhappy look was directed at nothing more than a large, scruffy black dog rolling in the snow a few strides outside the shop. At the sound of her voice, the dog had stilled, lying upside down and staring up at the two of them. Its tongue was hanging out, and its tail was creating an odd sort of snow angel on the ground as it wagged back and forth.

Lily had been a sucker for animals since she was a little girl; one of her earliest memories was the day that she had brought the tiny little sparrow with the broken wing home from the park, cradled in her chubby child hands. Her mother had tried to convince her that they couldn't do anything to help it, but the small green eyed girl had refused to leave it behind. She had sat beside it all afternoon that day, worrying over it as it seemed to grow only worse. Mrs. Evans had told her, using her most stern voice, to let the bird lie in peace in its shoebox, but Lily couldn't help herself. When her mother left the room, the little girl carefully reached out to stroke a brown feather. As soon as her short finger had touched the bird, her hand felt a small little shock, and the bird seemed to jerk. Within the hour, it was hopping around its box cage restlessly – Lily was peering at it through a hole in the side – and flapping the wing that had once been immobile but now seemed perfectly fine. Lily's mother had helped her set it free in their backyard, and at the time, she had explained to Lily that it must have just been in shock when they found it. Now, Lily knew for a fact that its wing had been broken, and that healing it was her first bout of accidental magic.

Years later, the dog in Hogsmeade looked absolutely nothing like that small sparrow, but it was not excluded from Lily's fondness for animals, and it was with a smile that she crouched down to rub its ear.

"He doesn't have a collar – must be a stray," She said over her shoulder, her voice slightly muffled as the dog placed sloppy kisses on her cheek.

Her boyfriend had followed her reluctantly, a scowl on his face, and Lily could have sworn that she heard him mutter, "Oh, he's a stray alright."

"What's the matter? It's just a dog, James," She said, both her voice and face betraying her amusement at the look on his face.

James had crinkled his nose at her and made a sour face, but he didn't bother to respond as he shoved his hands into his pockets. The redhead rolled her eyes at him before glancing down at the dog and speaking in a stage whisper, saying, "Don't worry, he's just jealous."

"Come on, come and pet him, James," She said, ignoring the snort he had given at her last words. "He's sweet, look."

The dog, as if on cue, rubbed both paws over its face and covered its eyes with them, making a sad keening sound. He was still lying upside down, with Lily's right hand scratching the fur on his neck. It took her a whole ten minutes to get James to stop scowling, but the frown had reappeared as soon as the dog swiped its tongue across his forehead, leaving behind a slimy trail of dog drool that immediately dribbled down into James' eyebrows.

Lily, of course, found both the dog's actions and the indignant noise James had made very amusing, but her fellow Gryffindor certainly did not agree. She was positive she had a smirk on her face that contrasted the scowl on James' as they walked back to the castle, the shaggy black dog trotting along happily beside them. Lily was sure to use every possible dog joke and jab that she could think of on the way home, and once even the dog itself had seemed to give a barking sort of laugh, but she had brushed that off as her imagination when she saw that it was only biting at an itchy spot on its paw.

She lost track of the dog when they stepped through the gates of the school, and she bid it a mental farewell and a hope that it found a kind home with someone in the village – it certainly had a charming personality working in its favor.

When she and James stepped through the portrait hole together, the common room was still mostly empty, housing only a few lower years playing Gobstones in one corner, and Sirius Black sprawled across the couch directly facing them. Sirius' clothes were slightly ruffled, he had snow in his hair, and he had a particularly self-satisfied look on his face. Lily knew that face well – it was the look he wore when he was pulling a prank or telling a joke.

"Prongs, Evans," He said, and Lily noticed that he could barely say her surname with a straight face. "Have a good time?"

James glared at him, and the two Marauders stared at each other, one in amusement and one in ire. Lily looked between the two of them, eyes narrowed. Then she rolled her eyes, shook her head, and said, "I don't even want to know."

AN: Let me know what you think, I'd really like to know! :)