His Hidden Angel

New Furry Friend

I've been living with Remus for two years now and I'm ten years old. Today when I woke up, Remus was gone like normal and I went through my daily routine. Take a shower, breakfast, garden, read, drawing, flying practice, clean, and cook dinner before Remus got home.
It was a little chilly today, so I put on one of the sweaters Mrs. Weasley has made for me. The sweater was a maroon red with a little pair of gold wings on the left side of my chest. It was one of my favorites because Moony, Mrs. Weasley, and I knew what it meant, but beyond them, everyone thought it was just a little symbol on my shirt.
It was mid-afternoon when I closed my note book from drawing. One of the things I drew most often was sketches based off of these little figurines Remus had. I found them in the trunk not long after I started living here. They were little and made out of metal and in the shape of a stag, a wolf, and dog, and a rat. I noticed while looking at them that they had initials on the bottom of each of their feet. The stag had J and P, the dog had S and B, the rat had two P's, and the wolf had R and L.

I figured the wolf was meant to represent Lupin because they were his initials and his nickname was moony, but I some times wondered who the other people were. Remus didn't have people over often, besides Mrs. Weasley a few times and one or two other people, except I usually stayed upstairs or only said hello and left when I didn't know them.

I set the notebook down on the desk and went outside to practice my flying. Most days I wanted to see how fast I could fly or how my reflexes were.

I went into the air and gave myself a count down and I stretched my wings out. They had grown quite a bit in the last two years since I'd been able to use them a lot more and I got a lot stronger too.
Ready...
...Set....
...GO
With that I was racing along the tree tops going as fast as I could. The feeling of the wind on my face made me shiver slightly, but the adrenaline pushed away the cold. I flew until I reached the tree I hit when I first landed here nearly two years ago. I could identify the tree because I could see the path of destruction I caused by taking out a few branches when I crashed.
Then I reached the tree I adjusted the angle of my wings so I would fly upwards as if I was going to do a loop. I readjusted the angle of my wings once more so I was flying upside-down momentarily, and then tucked my wings in, twirled around so I was flying the right way, and then spread my wings back out as I picked up speed once again.
Before long I saw the cottage and reached my starting place. The next drill was for my reflexes and agility. I started in the same spot, but didn't go into the air. I gave myself a count down once more.
Ready...
...Set...
...GO
I took a few running steps before I began to glide at about what would be my head height. I headed straight for the trees and began to twist and turn as I weaves through them as fast as possible. I did sharp turns, barrel rolls, and went over and under the fallen trees that covered the uncut path that I took to the same tree as before. Once I reached the tree, I went back the way I just came.
I repeated the exercises a couple times, including one of my favorites. I tested how much I could trusted myself. I would fly as high as I could to where the cottage was just a dot on the ground. Once I was high enough, I tucked my wings in and began to free fall. I wanted to see how close I could get to the ground before I pulled up. Today when I pulled up I was about level with the trees.
Once I finished I was going to take a break. I walked over to the water pump by the creek. I was about to get the water when I saw some movement up ahead and heard a stick crack. I quickly tucked my wings behind me and hoped whoever or whatever was there hadn't seen me. I scanned the area but didn't see anything.

"Who's there?" I called out as I walked backwards towards the house. I was about halfway to the house when I saw something move. Out from the tree line came a dog. The dog looked curious when he saw me. The dog was black as night and had very tangled fur. The dog walked over to the creek and let out a single bark while focusing on the cottage more than me.
I let out a whistle and started to walk over to the dog slowly. I knew that if the dog seemed untrustworthy I could just fly into the air so it couldn't get me and just wait until it was gone.
"Hey there little guy. What's your name?"
I eventually made it to the dog and let it smell my hand. The dog seemed fairly calm for being with a total stranger. The dogs eyes were strange though. They seemed almost human.
"I wonder if Moony would let me keep you here? Do you have an owner?" When I said moony, his ears perked up and he let out a small bark.
"Do you know moony?" In reaction to hearing Moony again he started running in circles.

"I guess that's a yes. Well if I'm going to try to get Moony to let you stay, then we will have to get you cleaned up. Stay here." As I said this the dog sat and laid down on the ground. At least the dog was trained. As I turned around and spread my wings to fly back to the house, the dog barked. I turned around to see the dog trotting over to me. He looked at my wings in confusion and started to smell them and nudged his nose against them as if trying to get me to explain.

"Oh, my wings? I guess you didn't see them earlier because I hid them. I guess you can see them since you're a dog, but you can't tell them to anyone else except Remus. Its a secret." I said with a laugh as I realized I was telling secrets and jokes to a dog.

The dog laid down on the ground and moved his front paws to cover his eyes and head. I let out a laugh and bent down to scratch behind his ears and his neck. He leaned into my hand signaling that he liked his ears being scratched.

"That's right. Its a secret.", I said in almost a baby-talk voice.

"Now, I'll be right back." The dog laid down and I flew over to the cottage. I grabbed a bottle of soap, a few towels, a old brush that I found in the bottom of the bathroom cabinet, and an old sock I found under my bed and I tied a large knot in the middle of it so the dog could chew on it.

I walked out to the creek and the dog was laying where I left him. Once he saw me, he ran over to me and walked by my side. I set the items by the bank of the creek and walked over to the water pump. I picked up the bucket that was beside it and walked back over to the spot I dropped the items.

"Alright. Hop in the creek." I said while pointing to the water. Instead of going into the creek, the dog got into a playful position with his tail wagging in the air and lowering his head low to the ground.

"No. I'm not going in the water with you. I'm going to help from the bank." The dog barked while staying in the same position.

"Fine." I said with a sigh. I rolled up my sleeves and pant legs and took off my shoes. When I stepped into the water, it was cold, so I wrapped my wings around me. The dog, still on the bank, let out a noise that sounded like a laugh. By doing so, it made me laugh as well.

"I thought you were the one getting a bath. Not me." The dog then came barreling into the water. I used my wings to shield the water from splashing on me. I gave him a playfully glaring eye once he sat down in the water. I reached for the bucket and started pouring water on him. I then took the soap and poured some on him.

I started to scrub him with the soap and run the brush through him. I repeated the process at least three more times to help get the flees, dirt, grime, and smell off of him. On the final scrubbing once the soap was all lathered I was about to rinse him, but he had something else in mind. He gave me a mischief filled look with those human-looking eyes. Before I could shield myself he began to shake and sent soap and water all over me. When I moved my hands from wiping my eyes, I only saw a blur of black before he jumped on me, knocking me into the creek.

Once I sat up I saw the dog sitting to the left of me doing the same laugh as before. It was definitely strange, but I didn't care at this point. I started to laugh with him while still sitting in the creek. Once I was up, I started splashing water at him and playing. This continues for a while and once we stopped, we were both soaking wet and my sweater was growing heavy and uncomfortable.

Once we were done playing it, it was about sunset.

"Come on, lets finish cleaning you up, so I can get cleaned up." The dog followed me out of the river by my side as I reached for one of the towels. I took one of the towels and wrapped it around him and started to dry him off. I started to feel the crispy, cool air once again and began to shiver slightly. I went to wrap my wings around me for warmth, but they weren't much help since they were also wet. The dog must have noticed my reaction to the cold as he slightly grabbed the edge of my sweater and tried to lead me towards the house.

"Ok. Ok. I'm coming." I said while trying to keep up with him to prevent my sweater from stretching. I walked into my home with someone that was totally different and technically a stranger, but laughed with them as if we'd been friends for years.