Harry Potter owned one orange cat and a little golden retriever puppy. He lived alone in a small flat in London and spent most of his days working at an animal care center a short bike ride away from his flat. He rode his bike or took the tube, he never rode his broom or apparated anymore. It left a bad feeling in his stomach nowadays. To be perfectly honest, he never used magic if he could help it. Harry was perfectly content living in Muggle London and living a normal, quiet life. He saw Ron, Hermione, and their small daughter once a week for dinner. He always went around the Weasleys for Christmas. He had his pets, his home, a lot of books he had yet to read. Harry had a good life. He just wished he was happy.

On one dreary October morning, Harry left his flat in a hurry. He had spent nearly an hour trying to find Goldy, his puppy, only to discover she had fallen asleep under his bed. Now, he was hurrying out the door, his hair a mess and his shoes untied. He biked to the animal care center furiously, nearly crashing into several cars and pedestrians on the way. Harry heaved a great sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. He locked up his bike as quickly as he could and hurried into the center.

"Hello," Martha said to him, giving a quick glance at his untied shoes. He nodded his head at her. She was maybe ten years older than him, not very chatty. She was always watching him though, but he didn't pay much mind to her.

"I'm gonna go refill the water bowls, mind the desk, will you? Not a soul all morning." She shrugged and wandered into the back where all the kennels were. Harry sighed and busied himself organizing the mess behind the desk. Martha was probably out smoking in the back. He didn't blame her. This place was rather depressing. He ran out of flyers to organize and sat with his chin in his hand. He could use a cup of tea. Or some whiskey. Perhaps a mix of both would do. He had just begun thinking of all the things he would like to get done after work when the door opened, the little bell sounded, and Draco Malfoy walked in.

Harry gasped. He hadn't meant to. But the sight of Draco Malfoy walking into Friendly Fuzzies Animal Shelter was downright unbelievable.

"It's you," Was what came out of his mouth after a moment of stunned silence. He hadn't meant to say that either.

Malfoy flushed. He was wearing tight dark jeans and a sage-colored sweater with a little black scarf. In his arms, he held a squirming puppy.

"I–found this." Malfoy thrust the puppy forward. "On the side of the road. I just thought I would take it. Here. I saw this place and I just thought I would take it. Here." As he kept speaking his voice continued getting higher and higher in pitch. Harry stared at him momentarily, his heart beating wildly with shock.

"Is that…" Malfoy trailed off, apparently also at a loss for words.

"Perfectly alright. Right. Yes." Harry held out his arms for the puppy. Draco awkwardly passed it over the desk. Harry stared down at what appeared to be a young golden retriever. It licked his cheek.

"Guess I'll be going." Draco shrugged, looking down at his shoes.

"Thanks–for er, dropping the dog off. You know. Thanks." Harry bolted down the hall without a second thought. He couldn't believe what a fool he was. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. For what. Breathing shakily he wandered amongst the kennels ignoring the pitiful whines of each lonely dog. The puppy in his arms started shaking in terror. It dug its little nails into Harry's sweater. He sighed.

"I'm sorry." He said to the puppy. "At least you won't get run over."

"Talking to the dogs again!" Martha yelled as she passed by, apparently all done with her smoking break. "You know the customers think you're a bit strange."

"I'm just dropping this one off," Harry muttered. Martha didn't respond. Harry wondered if she had left again. He placed the puppy in one of the last empty crates, it looked up at him with big huge eyes.

"I'm not taking you home. I have two pets already. One that I nearly lost this morning. I don't know how you can expect me to be responsible for another." Harry knew he sounded ridiculous. Talking to a dog like this. However, he didn't know if he could walk back into the front of the store to find Draco Malfoy still standing there. Though of course, Draco wouldn't still be standing there. That would be downright ridiculous. Just to be safe, Harry spent the next thirty minutes sweeping up the nonexistent dust in the back. When he decided it was safe, he crept silently back towards the front. Martha was reading a book at the front desk.

"I was just cleaning up back there," Harry said quickly as she looked up. Martha shrugged.

"Alright." She surveyed him. "Did you know that man?" His entire body went cold.

"Er, what?"

"That man, who dropped off that dog did you know him? He was waiting here for quite a while. Looked downright terrified." She shrugged again. "Bit odd."

"Oh, yes. I suppose, well. We knew one another from secondary school." Martha went back to her book. He sat beside Martha and messed around on the computer a bit, thinking she had forgotten all about Draco.

"So did you date?" Harry jerked back from the computer so violently that he fell off the chair. Martha started laughing, shutting her book and shaking her head.

"Imagine that." She stood up. "Well, I'm gonna go, and leave you to your thoughts." Before Harry had a chance to say anything else she had gotten her coat and left out the back, cigarette in hand. Harry was slightly shaky for the rest of the day. One man and his son came in looking for a lost dog, they left quickly after seeing the sad state of the back room. His day at the Friendly Fuzzies Animal Shelter was finally over at 5 pm. Harry locked everything up as quickly as he could and headed to the back to refill the water bowls. When he passed Draco Malfoy's puppy he stopped. It was simply staring at him, head tilted to the right. It wasn't whining or jumping frantically. The puppy was merely staring at him. As if he was a subject to be examined. They stared at each other. Fuck. Without giving it a second thought, Harry opened the kennel and scooped the puppy into his arms. It nestled its head into the side of his neck. Harry sighed. Draco Malfoy's puppy was coming home with him. Only because he found him cute. The puppy. Obviously.