And Then There Were Three

Chapter 5

The early morning sun was just beginning to shine through Snape's bedroom window at the little cottage by the sea. The warmth of it gently coaxed him awake as it fell across his face.

Though Snape hadn't felt this relaxed in quite a while as he lay on his stomach, with his hands beneath the pillow, lingering between awake and asleep, something was wrong.

In an instant, Snape had his fingers wrapped around his wand and he was sitting up in bed, a spell on the tip of his tongue.

It was however, at that moment, that instead of a dark wizard or some other dangerous being, Snape was faced with the warm breath and scraggly, grey fur of a dog.

"What in Merlin's name–"

Rook took that for the only invitation he needed to pounce on the bed and smother Snape, the fearsome bat of the dungeons, with slobbery dog kisses.

"Get off you mutt!" Snape yelled as he tried in vain to push off the dog. "Get off of me! Harry James!"

Barely a moment later Snape heard Harry's bedroom door open, just before he tore down the hallway and ran into Snape's room.

"Rook!" Harry exclaimed, immediately reaching out to pull the dog off the bed. "Rook, no! You have to get down! Leave him alone!"

"Rook?!" Snape cried, finally succeeding in untangling himself from both the dog and his bedsheets, which were now covered in slobber and mud. "You know this beast?"

Harry kept a firm hold on Rook, crouching down and checking him over, as if making sure that Snape hadn't done anything to him.

"Harry," Snape said again, standing up and crossing his arms over the sleeveless t shirt he had worn to bed. "Where did this dog come from, young man?"

Harry stood up as well, though he kept his gaze down and away from Snape. "I found him at the beach yesterday," he murmured.

"And you just thought you'd bring him here?"

Finally, Harry looked up. "He doesn't have anyone else, Dad! He needs me."

At this, Rook once more began to excitedly bounce around Harry, his tail wagging happily at the attention.

Snape groaned. "You have to take him back."

"What?!" Harry reached out to take hold of Rook, as if just by holding on to him he could keep Snape from sending him away. "No. He's mine! I found him."

"Harry–"

"I'm not just going to abandon him, Dad," Harry exclaimed, storming out of the bedroom and into the living room.

Snape followed after him. "And where do you think you're going?"

Harry whirled back around to face Snape. "I'm going to go buy him some food."

"You are not going to take one step out of this house."

Harry sent a heated glare towards Snape before turning and moving again towards the door.

"Harry," Snape said, his voice rising just enough to cause Harry to pause, his hand nearly on the doorknob. "Turn back around, and sit down. We are going to both take a breath so that we can talk about this calmly and rationally, but first of all, it is far too early in the morning for you to be going anywhere, especially when you're not even dressed properly yet."

Harry glanced down at his t-shirt and pajama pants. He didn't even have shoes on yet.

The beginnings of embarrassment were settling in and he could feel his cheeks burning with shame.