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With a final fanfare the screen faded to black and the credits began to roll. Harry stretched his arms above his head to relieve the stiffness and planted a kiss atop Hermione’s head where she lay snuggled against him. She sat up and Harry rose to his feet, collecting their empty mugs from the table.
“I’ll just go sort the kitchen and the rubbish” he said, making towards the door.
“Don’t forget to take it outside. We vanished the last one, remember? We can’t have the neighbours getting suspicious” she called after him.
Living in a muggle neighbourhood certainly had its benefits, privacy and anonymity chief among them, but it did come with some necessary rituals needed to blend in. Taking out the bins, tending to the garden, bringing in shopping, all in full view of neighbours who otherwise might gossip about the young, reclusive couple.
Harry hefted the bulging sack and carried it through the back door and around the side of the house to the bins. Dropping it into the container, he turned back towards the garden when a squeak from the darkness stopped him. It had come from the shadows between the large bins. With a quick look over his shoulder to check for onlookers, Harry lit his wand with a whisper and shone the beam into the space.
Looking back at him with large, anxious eyes and downturned ears was a small, brown pup. It was very dirty, and trembling slightly, but didn’t shy away as he crouched down. Harry slowly extended a hand towards it, stopping a few inches from its snout to let it decide whether to trust him. With slow, tentative movements the tiny dog extended its head towards Harry’s hand, then gave it a gentle lick. Harry thought about what Hagrid would do in this situation and, mind made up, he scooped the dog into his arms and made for the kitchen.
Hermione was rinsing the mugs in the sink when Harry stepped through the door, small bundle huddled in his arms. She frowned questioningly at the lump and he shifted to allow the small, brown head to peek out.
“I found them out by the bins. The poor thing looked freezing and half starved. I couldn’t leave them” he said, stroking down the furry neck.
Hermione’s face softened as she approached. “Of course not. What would Hagrid have said!?” She extended a gentle hand towards the pup and stroked its face, talking to it directly now. “Aren’t you just adorable. Who could have left you?”
“I’m not saying we keep them” Harry shrugged, “I just thought we could help.”
“No” she agreed, “there wouldn’t be anyone here to look after them in the day, but of course we can help.” The little dog had taken a shine to her as she scratched behind its ear. “Let me just grab a book, I’ll be back in a moment” she said, and slipped out of the kitchen.
Hermione padded across to their small library opposite the lounge and began running her finger along the spines of leather-bound books. She found the one she was after, a rarely-used tome, and plucked it from the shelf. Returning to the kitchen, she found the puppy biting Harry’s nose and Harry gleefully letting it, growling along in their mock fight.
“You couldn’t have waited to do that until after I checked it hasn’t got a disease?” she asked with an arched eyebrow.
“They started it” he mumbled in response.
Hermione thumbed through the book until she found the right page and lay it flat on the kitchen table. Checking the incantation, she twirled her wand over the dog and nimbly caught the strip of parchment that came shooting out of the end.
She unfurled it and read the assessment. “Male. Okay, so we can stop calling him it. No discernible breed. No fleas, no worms. Pretty healthy actually, other than being a little malnourished.” She wordlessly incinerated the parchment and returned her attention to Harry and the pup. “And very dirty.”
“Time for a bath then!” he said with a grin. He handed the dog to Hermione and strode from the kitchen, rolling up his sleeves as he went.
Harry ran a shallow bath while Hermione fussed over the dog, checking his ears and teeth while he tried to catch her fingers. She set him down in the water, turning it brown and cloudy around his legs.
“Urgh, he’s filthy!” Harry said, reaching for the shower head and beginning to hose the pup down. He didn’t seem to mind the water but Hermione kept his attention as best she could, stroking his face and heaping on praise. When Harry had thoroughly doused him, she grabbed the shampoo off the side and began to lather it into his coat.
“We should give him a name” she mused. “We can’t keep saying him all night.”
“How about Fluffy?” Harry asked, grinning.
She fixed him with a withering gaze. “Oh yes, brilliant idea, name him after the one that tried to kill us!”
He laughed. “If you’re ruling out names of things that have tried to kill us, you’re not leaving us with a lot of options!”
She stuck out her tongue, moving to scrub under the pup’s chin. “How about Othello?”
“What about Quaffle?”
She grimaced. “Theseus?”
“Al-bark Dumbledog?”
Hermione closed her eyes and supressed her grin so as not to give him the satisfaction. “I don’t think we’re going to agree on this.”
“Just as well we’re not keeping him” Harry chuckled.
“Look, okay, how about Snuffles?” The little dog, who had been watching their exchange, barked, wobbling the bubble hat Hermione had worked up on his head. “See, he likes it!” she said, triumphantly.
“Fine! Fine, Snuffles it is!” Harry stood up and grabbed a clean towel off the rail. “Come on then, dinner and bed, Snuffles.” Snuffles barked again and shook himself vigorously, showering them both with droplets as they yelled and dived for cover.
Half an hour later, with a belly full of left-over chicken, Snuffles passed out in his makeshift bed in the corner of the kitchen and Harry and Hermione headed up to their room.
They rose early the next morning. They’d agreed that Harry would mind Snuffles as he only had a few statements to gather and some paperwork that could be done from home, while Hermione would ask around at work for anyone that wanted to adopt a dog or knew of any good shelters. The first order of the day, however, was to check on their house guest.
Snuffles was sat looking expectantly at the kitchen door as they entered, tail flapping against the floor. The room still appeared to be clean and intact. Hermione greeted him with a ruffle of his head and let him out into the garden while Harry fixed tea for them and something suitable for a dog’s breakfast.
They went about their morning routine with a happy, furry shadow until, with a lingering kiss at the front door, Hermione set off to apparate to the Ministry. Harry conjured a collar and a lead and fastened them around Snuffles’ neck.
“Right, I’m deputising you now, Okay?” he said with faux importance. Snuffles sat up straight and listened intently. “Best behaviour, Officer Snuffles.” With a woof, they jogged down the steps to the street, Harry waving awkwardly to the suited muggle neighbour.
It was a lengthy walk to his first stop; a muggle antiques store that had been recently broken into but showed signs of magical tampering. It was the latest in a spate of wizard-on-muggle crimes that seemed to share the same MO. The prime suspect was a Gilbert Ermine, a petty criminal who made Mundungus Fletcher look principled, but while he remained at large it was a source of embarrassment to the Auror department.
Harry finished taking the store owner’s statement, stowing away his fake Metropolitan Police badge and double underlining his scribbled notes that confirmed the man had been Confunded. Snuffles had stuck to his promise of no funny business, trotting along next to Harry with his nose in the air.
As they crossed the road into the park the small dog began to pull sideways and growl softly.
“What have you-“ Harry looked in the direction Snuffles was pulling and stopped in surprise. Sitting on a bench, not fifty feet away and rifling through a battered carpet bag, was Ermine.
Harry weighed his options. If Ermine saw him, he’d apparate away before Harry could do anything, and anti-apparition wards took hours to set up covertly. He could throw up a hasty one, but he didn’t fancy getting into a duel in the middle of muggle London - he’d be wrapped up in Statute hearings for months.
Harry’s grip slackened as his brain whirred until a sharp tug from Snuffles ripped the lead from his hand and the dog set off across the grass towards the unsuspecting wizard.
“Shit!” Harry hissed through gritted teeth. He couldn’t shout lest Ermine look around. Harry was going to catch a lot of trouble for letting a dog he had brought along scare away their prime suspect. Snuffles padded over the grass behind the bench, lead dragging behind. Harry held his breath.
Snuffles paused and crouched low, his eyes fixed on something. With a lurch, the pup sprang forward and snatched Ermine’s wand right out of his pocket, teeth clamped on the handle that was sticking from his trousers.
Ermine leaped up. “Oi! Give it back, ya mutt!” he yelled, wheeling around. He looked up at the sound of thumping footsteps to see Harry charging towards him, the distance between them already halved as Harry had sprung into action the moment Ermine was disarmed.
The thief made it three steps before Harry tackled him to the ground. There was a brief scuffle but Harry was ready and shot a silent stunner into the older mans ribs.
Thankfully, the encounter had gone unnoticed and Harry cast hasty privacy and muggle repelling charms before sending a patronus to the Auror desk. Snuffles dropped the wand by Harry’s knee, wagging his tail.
“Good work, Officer Snuffles” Harry said, scratching his head. He’d been apprehensive this morning about taking the pup with him, even on what was supposed to be a relatively innocuous outing, but his worry had been proved unfounded. Harry had enjoyed walking together through London, sharing in the dog’s excitement and chatting away as though he could understand.
He was beginning to wonder if they might have been a bit hasty in deciding to give the dog up.
Hermione was poring over another ream of papers when a silver stag materialised in her office.
“Really sorry Hermione, could you take Snuffles for the rest of the day? I need to come in and process an arrest. Meet me at Brockwell Park. Love you.” it said in Harry’s voice, then dissolved into mist.
She sighed and pushed her wild hair back from her face. It had been an unusually busy morning without a single break since she had arrived, but there was no reason she couldn’t do this from home. Gathering the loose papers into a neat stack and slipping them into a folder, Hermione pulled on her coat and left the room.
The wind had picked up and was blowing fallen leaves across the park. She found Harry stood under a large tree next to the path, Snuffles sat at his heel. A short distance away, two Aurors flanked a shabby looking man sat on a bench, hands drawn behind his back.
Harry greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you so much for doing this. I’m sorry to pull you away, we just bumped into him.” He nodded his head towards the detained wizard.
Hermione gave him a small smile. “It’s okay Harry, Snuffles can keep me company at home until you’re done.” The little dog had moved to her side and was looking up expectantly.
Harry handed her the lead. “Have you had a chance to ask about re-homing him? Because I was thinking-“
“Oh, no I haven’t. I’m sorry. There’s just been a million things to do this morning” she interrupted, looking weary. “Would you mind doing it this afternoon?”
“Oh. Erm, sure. Yeh” he replied. He looked like he wanted to say more, but changed his mind. With a parting kiss, Harry headed over to the Aurors and Hermione made for home, Snuffles gambling alongside.
They made it back just as the rain began in earnest. Juggling her bag in one arm and the lead in the other, Hermione ducked under the porch to let them both in. They both shook the rain out of their hair before making for the desk in the library, Hermione vanishing the collar and lead Harry had conjured that morning.
She dumped the contents of her files onto the surface and sank into the chair. Somewhere in this mountain of letters, balance sheets, reports, and bills was the corruption she was looking for. She knew it. But of course they’d dragged their feet in providing it and now there were only three days until she had to make her preliminary case.
Snuffles curled up below the desk, content to warm Hermione’s feet while she began sorting through the evidence.
The hours ticked by and her aggravation grew. All the evidence was pointing to the same thing but there was a gaping hole where the thing was supposed to be. She let out a growl of frustration and threw herself back in the chair, limp.
Something warm nuzzled her hand that was dangling off the arm of the chair. Looking down, she was met with Snuffles’ concerned eyes. She took a deep, calming breath and ran her fingers through his fur. “Sorry about that, Snuffles. I got a little overwrought.” He cocked his head, listening.
“I’m just missing something. And what’s worse is I’m sure I’ve seen it. I must have left it at the office.”
The pup licked her hand and disappeared under the desk. Hermione bent down to see what he was doing and watched as he gently tugged a piece of paper from behind the desk draws, the corner held between his teeth.
He brought it over and she held it under the light. To her surprise, it was none other than the missing piece she had been looking for. It must have slipped down the back when she emptied the documents onto the desk. Hermione picked him up and kissed the top of his head, still slightly damp from the rain.
She held Snuffles close, stroking his fur while the wheels in her mind turned. Would it be so bad to have a dog? There were a number of proven benefits, and Snuffles was far better behaved than she had expected of a stray puppy. If she was honest, she just liked having him around too.
Hermione heard the door open and took a breath, composing herself for the difficult conversation that was sure to follow. She stepped into the hall to find Harry hanging his coat, fumbling with something obscured in his other hand. He looked up and smiled at her.
“Hey, I have something to-“
“Wait, let me go first” she blurted, wanting to get this out before he told her who had agreed to adopt Snuffles. “I’ve been thinking,” he raised an amused eyebrow as if to question when that was ever not the case, but she pressed on, “and I think we should keep Snuffles. I know we agreed that we couldn’t manage having a pet but really between us we can manage days at home and coming back for lunch, and he’s ever so good, plus it would help us keep active with walks and perhaps get to know the neighbours better, and studies show that dogs have a calming influence and help with stress and I don’t need to tell you that we’ve had enough stress for one lifetime, and I’m sorry if you’ve already asked someone to take him, I’ll talk to them, it’s my fault, I just only realised today-”
She stopped, realising she’d just assaulted Harry with all the things that had been churning in her head without even stopping to breathe. “What do you think?” she asked, looking at him with apprehension.
He smiled and held out the hand that was hidden behind his back. He was holding a small red collar with a silver tag dangling from a loop. On the tag, three words were engraved. Snuffles Granger-Potter.