[A/N: So this was supposed to be a pair of drabbles for Harry's birthday and then a second for Hermione's to wrap up the story. I didn't bother to outline them because they're just drabbles and who needs to outline drabbles?
Me. That person is me. I had the whole thing under control until I made a joke about Pixie Stix and suddenly the plot exploded in my face. The story is now over 13,000 words in draft form and is currently fighting me to become a full canon rewrite. I think I can tamp it back down and bring it to some sort of conclusion in a reasonable amount of time.
So, yeah, I'm posting this while I change the content warnings and push up the rating a bit. Nothing awful, just more violent and scary than I'd planned. I hope you enjoy this part! I'll post the next bit for Hermione's birthday.]
The path next to the forest took Harry and Hermione a few minutes longer to get to and from school, but it allowed them to avoid a couple of larger roadways and the forest was beautiful. They liked to pretend all kinds of magical animals lived there, and sometimes Harry even thought he saw a wolf slinking through the underbrush.
Hermione insisted there hadn't been wolves in England for centuries, but Harry sometimes wondered if she retreated to the authority of books whenever she got scared of something. As he got to know her, he'd learnt weird things happened around her, too, but she always insisted there was a perfectly rational explanation for them.
She insisted so loudly sometimes that Harry knew she was lying, but he didn't press on the matter. If his best friend didn't want to think about something, he wasn't going to make her. There were certainly things she didn't make him think about.
Lots of things, actually. He still couldn't bring himself to talk to Dudley Mitchum at school, and this Dudley was a bubbly little learning-disabled boy who cried when anyone killed a fly.
Whatever he and Hermione had been chatting about lost all of its importance when the dog stepped out onto the path behind them. Its nose was twitching wildly and, even though it was gaunt and mangy, it was still easily three stone in weight.
That might not have been that big a dog for a grown-up, but Harry and Hermione were barely four stone themselves and it seemed quite a lot for them to handle. Harry immediately stepped in front of Hermione, but before it took more than another two steps closer it froze.
A low growl came from behind Hermione, the sort of sound that started in your bones and worked its way into the pit of your stomach. The dog in front of them fled into the bushes, yelping in terror.
Harry and Hermione turned slowly around to find themselves nearly face-to-face with the largest wolfhound they'd ever seen, even on the telly. It was looking down at them and easily outweighed them both together.
Fortunately, it was also wagging its tail and panting happily at them.
"Thanks, boy!" Harry held out a hand for the dog to sniff, using the motion as an excuse to put himself between Hermione and the dog again.
The dog wagged its tail and licked Harry's hand.
"Do you have a name?" Harry looked around its neck but saw no collar. Its fur was matted in places and it looked thin for its size, so he assumed it was a stray.
The dog nodded its head and barked, "Arf-arf."
"Be careful!" Hermione said from her vantage point behind Harry.
Harry nodded. "You do have a name, don't you, boy? And…I know it. I don't know why, but are you Pafoo?"
The dog whined and began licking Harry's face.
"That's silly," Hermione said. "It would probably react that way to any name." She leaned around Harry's shoulder to look at the dog. "Are you Rover?"
The dog shook his head at her and went back to licking Harry.
"Um…Buddy?"
The dog didn't even bother reacting.
"What about Sadie? You might be a girl."
The dog looked at Hermione and growled softly, prompting her to take an immediate step back.
"That's not nice, Pafoo," Harry said.
The dog whined.
"I think he's sorry," Harry told Hermione.
"He is?" Hermione asked.
Pafoo barked happily.
"Huh." Hermione stared at it. "That's a really smart dog."
"She's speechless, Pafoo!" Harry said. "I've never seen her like this before. Good boy!"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Very funny."
"I certainly thought so," Harry said.
Pafoo barked happily again.
"And so does Pafoo."
Hermione fixed Harry with a stare. "You're ganging up on me with a dog."
"A very good dog." Harry pulled off his backpack. "He looks hungry. I'm going to give him my sandwich."
"But you need your sandwich, too," Hermione said. "Remember what the doctor said."
The dog whined.
"See?" Hermione asked. "Pafoo is worried about you, too."
"Wait, now you're ganging up on me with the dog?" Harry asked.
Hermione smirked. "What's good for the gander…"
"Don't you mean 'goose'?" Harry asked.
"The gander is the female, and I'm female," Hermione said. "That makes you the goose, and a silly one most of the time."
"Only you would rephrase an old saying to make it gender-accurate." Harry rolled his eyes. "Anyway, you're right. I'll give him half of my sandwich now and buy some dog treats for him later with my pocket money."
"Make sure they're good, meaty treats," Hermione said. "The biscuits will just rot his teeth."
"Fine, fine," Harry said. "Once I fatten him back up, then I can get him biscuits."
"Honestly, Harry, he doesn't need biscuits."
"And you don't need Pixie Stix, but I've seen how you look while you're eating them."
She blushed. "They're really good. You won't tell Mum and Dad, right?"
"Of course not! Pirates' honour."
"You still aren't a pirate."
Harry struck a pose with one hand up in the air and one leg up as if he were standing on something that, to an eight-year-old boy, probably looked heroic. "I am absolutely a pirate."
Pafoo licked his arm and wagged his tail happily.
"Boys." Hermione rolled her eyes.