Never have I written a whole Harry Potter story, but I thought I'd have a crack at it. I hope I do this story justice. It's an amazing series, and I recommend both the stories and the movies. Srsly. JK Rowling is the epitome of badassery, and I bow to her writing skills. That is all.

This story takes place after the war

After we left Gringotts, Lucius told us that we were more or less finished here, and all I needed to acquire was a familiar - or more commonly known as a pet. He said that I could choose any mobile, easy to maintain and somewhat naturally clean animal I wanted, that convened inside of the rules of Hogwarts School.

We strolled past the owlry, and I decided that owls, although they were stunning to look at, and spectacularly loyal pets, they weren't entirely for me. Their eyes were far too circular and seemed to be deep in thought, while simultaneously intimidating and scrutinising; they'd keep me up at night if I owned one. Plus, Valencia said that Draco and Blaise, who I had yet to actually meet, owned their own, each, so, they had assured me that if I were to ever need to send my own letters, they would be more than happy to lend me one for the job.

We stepped into the Magical Menagerie, and I was immediately hit with the scent of animal droppings, processed food, hay and sanitizer. The scents combined were enough to throw me off kilter, however, having been used to taking care of animals myself, I was able to get used to the stench, even though the noises were a lot louder and more exotic than I was used to.

I smiled, widely at the elderly gentlemen, who wore a silver and dark grey dress robes with the label 'Joseph' in black lettering, written beneath the breast pocket. I glanced around the room, once, and took note of the strange, wondrous creatures surrounding me.

An abrupt, concentrated caw gained my attention, and I saw a swarm of brightly coloured pygmy falcons, flittering around a cage, suddenly energized at my presence. Their sudden excitement shocked me for a moment, before I began feeding off of it, and found myself petting and playing with a few through the bars in the cage they were kept in. They were clearly a family; all of the same colour groups, reds and fiery yellow feathers adorning their bodies, and I knew I couldn't separate them, no matter how adorable they actually were.

I passed a basket full of spherical, puffballs of some kind, and when I reached out to stroke the silky pelt of one, I felt the cool wet tongue of something brush along my fingers. Quickly, I withdrew my hands, and crouched down a little closer to the basket, and I noticed I could hear a faint purring coming from somewhere inside the hamper.

"What are these?," I asked the shopkeeper, Joseph.

He glanced up from his conversation with Lucius, and replied, matter-of-factly, "Puffskeins, be careful, they're ticklish."

I backed away slightly, drawing a chuckle from the shopkeeper, and I went about on my way. I strolled past see through glass containers filled with bright orange giant snails, and spiders that actually set their environment on fire through their mandibles. A magically installed extinguisher, of sorts, excreted off white foam in whatever direction a new flame was created in, and I found the entire ensemble equally as impressive as it were intelligent.

Toads of all sizes and shapes bounded through their containers, croaking at everything and anything they encountered, they bulbous eyes trained on nothing in particular, and their chest expanding with every croak they gave. On one occasion, I even had to side step a white tabby cat, that sashayed across the shop floor, with her head held high, an emerald collar about her neck, and an air of confidence an animal should not have. It was almost.. Dare I say it, human-like.

I was so enthralled by the sheer brilliance of it all that I hadn't realised I had walked so far into the large store that I could no longer see the other adults, and in turn, they couldn't see me anymore.

Honestly, I probably shouldn't have, but curiosity flared inside of my very being as I saw a closed door leading off into somewhere unknown. For all I knew it could have just been a broom cupboard, or something equally as menial as that, so I felt no ounce of fear or trepidation as I pulled open the door, and felt a rather light weight fall upon my chest.

Before I knew it, I was flat on my back, having crashed to the floor, gracelessly, in a small heap, with a protective arm draped across the precious spotted tan bundle curling further and further into my chest cavity. I cooed, "What's your name, little guy?"

I felt a niggling in my mind, before a very childish sounding, male voice entered my thoughts, and replied, "Jude, they all call me Jude."

Tensing immediately, I stared into the wide, expressively blue orbs of the baby jaguar in my hands, and scratched behind his ear, lovingly. I scrambled for the words to say in this situation, and upon finding none that truly articulated what I was feeling, I asked, pathetically, "Was that you, in my head?"

He placed a paw over his eyes, in a somewhat apologetic manner, and replied, "Yes, sorry if I frightened you."

I shrugged, nonchalantly, "It's alright, I'm fine."

He purred with laughter, and I grinned, and held him tighter in my arms, as I hefted myself upward, just as the four adults came running around the corner, to find myself staring down at the beast in my arms.

"I want him," I stated, with conviction.

The shop owner glanced around, warily, and said, nervously, "Ma'am, we have many cats here. This animal is not for sale.. He's special."

I shrugged, not really caring for what the elder man was saying, something deep inside of me ordering me to keep this animal with me at all times was ruling over my emotions.

"No, I want him.. Please," I added on the end to try and sweeten the deal, however Joseph was having none of it. He even tried to forcibly remove Jude from my arms, however I pivoted and turned away, and began walking to the cashiers desk.

"Miss, I am not selling him to you."

"He means to sell me somewhere abroad. I can hear him, sometimes, talking about my teeth, and how much they'd be worth," and like a small child would, he added, innocently, "I'm afraid of him."

He nuzzled his face further into my shoulder, and I glared, harshly at the white-haired owner. I stood, and noticed how light and weightless Jude actually was in my arms. I rested his head on my shoulder, and his cropped spotted tail wagged joyously.

I stepped towards my father-in-law and whispered, in his ear, "Lucius, please, he's going to take his teeth and sell him to the highest bidder, and I stared into his guarded blue eyes, and continued, "Please, I just want to keep him safe."

Lucius took a moment, before confusion filled his expression, and asked, "How do you know this?"

I shrugged, flippantly, and said, "I can just hear him, in my head."

His eyes widened fractionally, then, after a beat of silence, he nodded, trustingly. He turned to the now-frightened looking man, and stepped, menacingly, towards him.

"Sir.. We are taking this animal, and I will make you a generous offer. You will be content with said offer, and take it with gratitude," and when Joseph went to speak, Lucius interrupted, "Ah, I'm not done. Now before you speak, let me talk to you in private for a moment," and took him back to the front of the shop, out of ear-shot.

Narcissa, Valencia and I shared an incredulous look, and, after a while, Lucius and Joseph, who's skin had lost a lot of colour, and had taken a more sullen tone. His hands were shaking, and he couldn't even look in our direction without seeming to freeze up.

He stammered, "T-Thank you for your business."

I glanced at Lucius, who seemed mighty proud of himself, and I grinned, widely. He lifted up two rectangular paper bag, with two intertwined 'M's on the front, and, with a small smile, he said, "Here, there are a few books on your little friend, he's not exactly a jaguar, they call him a minaguar. He wont ever grown past the size of a regular house cat, and his kind normally eat the scraps, like meat and whatnot. I even got him a little bed to sleep in while you're both away at school."

My smile grew with every word, and I heard Jude wail happily inside of my mind. I scratched the crown of his head, and he yawned, endearingly, in response.

"Thank you, so much."

I kissed his forehead, and said, quietly, "It's okay, you're safe now."

Sorry.. I'm an asshole for making you guys wait so long, but I've been out of my house for the last few days - I've not been myself, really, so a change of scenery was great for me.