How Much is that Doggy in the Window
by Healer Pomfrey

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

For Faye - Happy Birthday!

Harry Potter and Hermione Granger slowly walked back to Hogwarts from a short trip to the bookshop and the apothecary in Hogsmeade. It was a beautiful, warm summer day, Harry's birthday at that and thus just one month before the beginning of the new school year. The two young professors were extremely excited.

"Ah Harry, I just can't wait for classes to commence," Hermione spoke up, sighing happily.

Harry looked at her with a dark expression. "I wished I still had at least two more months to get used to the fact that I have to teach Potions," he moaned. "I'd rather prefer teaching Defence or something else."

"Harry," Hermione countered, setting up her lecturing voice, "you were the one with the best grade in the Potions NEWT, so it's obvious why Minerva asked you. No one else would be a better choice."

"YOU would be," Harry emphasized, glaring at his much too happy best friend. "You'd be much better. Frankly speaking, I'm a bit scared."

"I wouldn't want to teach Potions either," Hermione said, pensively. "I'm glad that I'm the Charms professor and Ravenclaw head."

"I wonder why she so insists on still teaching Transfiguration and remaining Gryffindor head in spite of being headmistress," Harry replied, grumpily. "I'd be much better as Transfiguration teacher and head of our old house than as Potions professor and head of Slytherin."

"Speak with Poppy," Hermione replied in a soothing voice. "She promised to help you if you ever need help, and she already said she'd share the head of house position with you." Suddenly, she interrupted herself staring down at the ground.

"Harry, look, that dog is still following you."

"Dog?" Harry mouthed, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Yes, did you not notice him before?" Hermione enquired, incredulously. "He's been following you all around Hogsmeade already. He looks as if he were still a puppy."

Harry looked down at the animal. It was smaller than the dogs that he knew like Snuffles, Fluffy or Fang and looked less intimidating. Its face was coloured in white, brown and black, while its body was almost completely white with just a few small black Waggles. His eyes were black, and his ears were very fluffy, and it was definitely a male dog. He was eagerly waggling its tail. 'A funny dog,' he thought, somehow feeling calmer in the canine's presence than before noticing the animal.

"He's cute," he said, before he asked, "Hey Waggle, what are you doing here? Why are you following me?" He leaned down in order to pet the dog, slightly hesitating because he knew nothing about dogs.

To his surprise, the dog immediately began to lick his hand.

"He's very friendly," Hermione commented, smiling. "Maybe he wants to become your familiar."

"What kind of dog is he?" Harry asked in confusion. "I've never seen such a dog before."

Hermione remained thoughtful for a moment, before she replied, "He looks like a Jack Russell Terrier, however, I think he must be the magical counterpart. I forgot the name. We have to look it up later on. Are you going to take him with you?"

Harry turned back to the dog that was still following him. "Do you want to come with me and become my familiar?" he queried. "I'm living in the huge castle in front of us."

The dog immediately began to waggle his tail and began to jump up putting his front feet against Harry's leg, seemingly happy.

"He must be very young," Hermione observed, smiling at the sight in front of her.

Suddenly, Harry heard a small voice in his mind. 'I took the liberty of bonding to you. I hope you don't mind.'

"No, I don't mind," Harry replied, perplexed, causing Hermione to stare at him in confusion.

"He just told me he bonded with me," Harry explained, and a broad smile spread over the young witch's face.

"That's wonderful, and I think he'll be very good for you," she said, appreciatively.

"Yeah, especially when I have to brew," Harry moaned.

"How old are you?" Hermione asked the dog. "Do you understand what we say?"

'I'm a few months old,' the puppy replied to Harry, telepathically. 'I'm still a puppy. You can just think to me too since we're bonded now by the way.'

"Are you a magical puppy?" Harry queried, after repeating what the puppy had told him to his friend.

'Yes,' the puppy confirmed, licking Harry's hand. 'I'm a Crup.'

"Oh right that was it," Hermione said in apparent excitement, when Harry repeated the puppy's thought aloud.

Hermione glanced at her wrist watch. "We really have to go now. Everyone's already waiting for us in the Great Hall."

Harry mumbled something that sounded like "Annoying busybodies," causing Hermione to sigh in exasperation.

"Harry," she lightly scolded her friend, "even if the Dursleys used to ignore your birthday, it doesn't mean that we have to do it as well. It's obvious that our colleagues want to have a birthday party for you, especially since it's in the middle of the holidays and everyone has time."

HP

Harry sighed in relief when the attention was immediately diverted from him to the puppy. "This is Waggle, my familiar," he introduced him, making everyone fawn about the puppy.

'Just tell me if it's too much, and I'll take you onto my lap,' he thought to the puppy, who returned a seemingly relieved, =Yes please.=

"Oh, he says wuff..."

"How cute..." his colleagues immediately cooed, causing Harry to roll his eyes in exasperation.

"Please don't make such a fuss about him, he's probably not used to it," he said, quietly, while he placed the puppy onto his lap.

Waggle happily proceeded to lick Harry's face including his glasses, and everyone laughed.

"Harry, congratulations to the best birthday present that you could wish for," Minerva spoke up, chuckling at the sight. "He really fits you well."

Harry nodded. 'That's true. He's the best birthday present ever,' he thought, although he felt very uncertain about the matter.

"That might be, but I've no clue how to care for a puppy, neither how to teach Potions to all these dunderheads," he moaned, making his colleagues laugh in amusement. "Am I so funny?" he growled, cuddling the puppy close.

"Yes Harry, you sound like Severus Snape," Poppy replied, still chuckling.

'At least he was a Potions Master and knew what he was doing,' Harry thought in annoyance.

"Exactly," Minerva agreed. "There must be something about the Potions position that makes people grumpy. Let's hope the puppy will help Harry."

The canine in question let out a small growl at the headmistress, before he nestled deeper in Harry's robes, when everyone once again began to fawn over his cuteness.

HP

As soon as lunch was over, Harry retreated to his quarters, knowing that he would not get around to returning to the Great Hall to eat his birthday cake with his meddling colleagues and to open his presents sooner than later. However, he first wanted to get Waggle settled into his rooms.

He called Nina, the house-elf whom Minerva had assigned him, and introduced her to the puppy. "Nina, please help me to look after him. I have no idea how to care for a puppy," he said, pleadingly.

"Of course Harry," Nina replied, brightly, apparently finally remembering that she should not call him 'Master'. "He's such a cutie." She conjured a puppy bed for him along with a stuffed toy doggy and placed a box with puppy treats onto the table. "Another one is in your office and bowls with water and food in your kitchen," she informed the Potions professor. "He won't need much food, but I'll tell the kitchen elves to always place bowls with food and water under the head table," Nina finally promised, before she excused herself and popped away.

HP

Harry let himself sink into the armchair in front of the fireplace. It still felt strange to live in the quarters that had once belonged to Severus Snape. Minerva had offered to have the elves make completely new quarters for him; however, Harry had declined the offer, not wanting to bother anyone. He was glad that the door to Hermione's quarters were right next to his own in the teachers' corridor, and his and Hermione's first action in his new quarters had been to change the colours of everything, making the room much more bright and comfortable for Harry.

The only huge advantage of taking the former Slytherin head's quarters was that it enabled Harry to use the Potions Master's books as well as his well organised and equipped Potions lab. 'But still, why me? Why Potions?' he thought, letting out a long sigh.

As if to enquire what was wrong, Waggle laid his front feet onto Harry's knees.

"Ah sorry," Harry told the canine, "it's not about you. I'm really happy to have you here, it's just that I'm worried because I'm going to have to teach something which I'm not good at. This is why I'm in such a bad mood today."

Instead of a reply, the puppy proceeded to meticulously lick Harry's left hand and arm, making the boy smile at the dog's antics.

HP

Several hours later, when Hermione and Ron, who had begun his Auror training a few weeks ago, joined Harry for dinner in his rooms, he had already get used to having Waggle around. He even had to admit to himself that he enjoyed it. Waggle's favourite place was a small, green carpet in front of the fireplace, and Harry could not help smiling when he observed the puppy crawl forth and back on the carpet as if to rub his belly, before he curled up and went to sleep.

At the knock against the door of his private quarters, Waggle shot up and ran towards the door, barking.

"It's all right Waggle, don't bark. That's Hermione and Ron, my best friends," Harry explained, however without much success.

While the puppy greeted Hermione by jumping up trying to lick her hand, he growled at Ron, who stared at the dog with a disgusted expression.

"My Harry, it's bad enough that you chose to live in the greasy git's quarters, but why do you have a dog?" he asked in disdain, causing Harry to inwardly groan.

During the whole evening, Waggle's opinion of Ron did not change. Whenever the redhead said something, the puppy let out a series of small growls. Other than that, Waggle was fairly well behaved; he only interrupted the conversation twice by putting his front feet up on Harry's knees letting out small yowls, but Harry found out soon that it was the puppy's way to inform him that he needed to be taken out into the garden to relieve himself.

Only a few days ago, Harry had noticed a back door, half hidden behind a painting, that led out into a herb garden which was situated on top of the roof of Hogwarts. Fortunately, the walls around the garden were high enough, so that he could take Waggle there without having to fear that the puppy might fell off the roof. To his amusement, Waggle immediately chose a couple of spots, where he watered some plants, while he decided to do his other business on the far end of the garden, always using the same spot.

Hermione found out that the canine loved it when she tried to take his stuffed dog off him. He growled and threatened to bite her, and when she somehow managed to distract the puppy and take the toy into her hands only to throw it away to the other end of the room, the puppy jumped off the sofa and dashed to fetch his toy back, before he returned to her side and the game began anew.

"He's such a cutie," she said, smiling at the sight of the puppy who was fast asleep, cuddled against his toy dog in front of the fireplace, when she left together with Ron late in the evening.

"Thanks," Harry replied, smiling, before he closed the door and decided to go to bed as well. 'Ron's really getting stupid,' he thought, snuggling into his covers. 'He even seems to be jealous now because Hermione and I are both working at Hogwarts. It was his own choice to become an Auror.'

HP

"You don't like Ron, do you?" he asked Waggle in the morning, when the puppy woke up and Harry took him into the herb garden for his morning business.

=No,= Waggle replied, simply, licking Harry's hand.

"It's all right, you don't have to like him, but please behave, because he's Hermione's boyfriend," Harry advised the puppy. "I wished he wasn't. I'd rather have her as my girlfriend," he thought, aloud.

HP

During the following weeks, Harry spent much time in the potions lab brewing potions for the hospital wing. At first, he had made multiple attempts to keep Waggle out of the lab, thinking that it would be too dangerous for the canine; however, the intelligent dog was faster than Harry and always managed to wriggle its way inside before Harry could close the door to lock him out.

"You have to better educate him," Hermione instructed him firmly. "He must learn that you're the boss and that he has to obey."

However, as well behaved as Waggle was on all other occasions, he kept following Harry wherever he went, no matter if he was allowed or not allowed to do so.

When Harry worked on his lesson plans, on which he also spent a lot of time, Waggle usually lay down on the floor next to Harry's feet. Without realising what he was doing, Harry kept talking to the dog about anything that came into his mind from his thoughts about Hermione and Ron to his concern about teaching Potions. The dog always seemed to be listening patiently. While working in the office, Harry realised soon that it would be the best to just use Snape's lesson plans as they were. 'He had many years of experience, while I have none,' he thought, feeling very much relieved that he had not only inherited the former professor's quarters but also his office.

HP

Almost too soon for Harry's liking, the first of September approached, and the students returned to Hogwarts. 'I feel like a first-year,' he thought, when he was sitting between Hermione and Minerva at the head table waiting for the students to storm the Great Hall. Waggle was sitting at his feet like he always did when Harry attended meals in the Great Hall. Somehow, having his familiar nearby calmed Harry, and he couldn't help feeling happy that he was never really alone.

While the first-years were called for the Sorting, Harry tried to remember each of their names in combination with the house, into which they were sorted. Most of the older students he knew already, not only due to having been a student until before the summer holidays. Harry also had been head boy together with Hermione as head girl, and the two of them had tried to memorize the names of all students along with their respective houses.

Only six students were sorted into Slytherin, three girls and three boys. Harry sighed. During his seventh year right after the war, Slytherin had already become much smaller than the other houses. 'We'll have to work on Slytherin's reputation,' he thought, resolving to do his best to make his new house the best Hogwarts house. 'Is there a rule that a head of house isn't allowed to train his Quidditch house team?' he wondered, absentmindedly noticing that the feast began.

"Stay here, I'll be back in a minute," he whispered to Waggle, before he rose from his seat and walked by the Slytherin table. "We're going to have a short house meeting right after the feast. Please gather everyone in the common room," he informed the Slytherin prefects. When he returned to the head table, he realised with a combination of annoyance and amusement that Waggle had - of course - followed him.

HP

After dinner, he headed to the Slytherin common room and spoke to the students. "Welcome to the first-years and welcome back to the older students. Since our house is our family during our stay at Hogwarts, we have to try together to make it a fantastic one. Therefore, we're going to have a house meeting every Friday right after dinner in order to discuss possible problems or other topics concerning our house. In addition, I shall come to the common room every night around curfew, so that you can speak with me if you have any question or problems. This year's goal for us should be to win both the house cup and the Quidditch cup, and if there's anything I can do to help you achieve the goal, feel free to inform me. Today, I won't keep you long, as I assume that you're tired from the travel and happy to have your friends back. Does anyone have any urgent questions? Otherwise I'll see you tomorrow."

One of the older students raised his hand. "Is that your dog, Professor?"

Harry smiled. Waggle was doing his crawling show on the carpet in front of the fireplace that was the equivalent to the one in Harry's quarters. "I'm sorry for not introducing him. Yes, he is my familiar, and his name is Waggle." He sighed. "I still need to get used to the situation of being a professor now. By the way, here in the house you may just call me Harry."

Since there were no further questions and the students were already yawning, especially the younger ones, Harry called Waggle and together with the puppy left through a shortcut that led right to his office. 'Another advantage of taking Snape's quarters,' he thought, when he entered his office. 'McGonagall doesn't have such a shortcut.'

HP

Harry realised soon that it was fun to teach the classes. However, whilst the lower classes were easy to instruct, for the NEWT classes he really had to be well prepared in order to be able to answer all the questions that the students came up with.

Waggle did not seem to mind that Harry spent so much time reading. When Harry played with him or sometimes Hermione, who often came to visit them, he was energetic and full of fun; however, when Harry was working, he stretched out on one of his favourite spots and slept.

However, learning from Hermione how much Harry worked, one day the headmistress addressed Harry at dinner time and instructed him to go for a walk every day for at least an hour together with Hermione and Waggle. "They also need fresh air," she said and continued in a stern voice, "This is an order from Poppy by the way."

Harry let out a deep sigh and arranged with Hermione to go for their walk every day right after curfew. 'Waggle really needs it,' he thought, in spite of feeling very annoyed by his colleagues' fuss.

After a few days, the two young teachers became used to their nightly walk around the lake, and Waggle thoroughly enjoyed himself. Harry and Hermione talked about their classes, the students, their colleagues and their familiars Waggle and Crookshanks.

Waggle and Crookshanks had met a few times, when Hermione had brought the kneazle cat with her to Harry's quarters. The puppy and the cat got along surprisingly well, and Waggle had willingly shared his favourite carpet in front of the fireplace with his new friend. However, one day, when Harry and Hermione were heading out onto the grounds for their walk, they met Mrs. Norris in the entrance hall, and the encounter between Waggle and Mrs. Norris did not go very well.

As soon as he had spotted the cat, he began to growl and ended up chasing her all over the castle, completely ignoring Harry's and Hermione's shouting for him. Ten minutes later, he returned, stood next to Harry and licked his hand.

"Waggle, that was very bad," Harry scolded his familiar.

"At least he came back, so he's not too bad," Hermione said in a soothing voice, casting Harry a soft smile.

"Are you going to behave now? Can we go for a walk now?" Harry asked Waggle, who replied by eagerly waggling his tail.

HP

'Waggle is really strange,' Harry thought later on. 'He's so nice towards everyone, except for Mrs. Norris and Ron. Why does he always growl at Ron, while he waggles his tail at everyone else?'

Even Hermione had to admit that she was unable to answer this question. She could only agree, however, that it was strange.

HP

One day, it was on a Saturday evening in October, Harry and Hermione were just half-way around the lake, when Waggle suddenly began to growl.

"Waggle be quiet," Harry hissed, not wanting the dog to wake up the students.

A moment later, Ronald Weasley was standing in front of them.

"Ron!" Hermione blurted out in apparent surprise.

"Ron," Harry echoed, "what are you doing here?"

"I want to speak to Mione," Ron replied and turned to the girl. "Hemione, I don't like the situation in which we're now. Please come and live with us at the Burrow. You can floo here every day as long as you still want to teach here, but..."

"I'm sorry Ron but no," Hermione interrupted his rambling. "I'm a professor and a head of house at that, and I must and want to live here in the castle. Apart from that, I have no intention to give up teaching here."

"But don't you want to have children?" Ron queried, staring at his girlfriend in shock.

"Not yet, and even if so, I don't think I'd give up the Charms position," Hermione replied, thoughtfully.

"Ron, give Mione some time," Harry threw in, feeling very uncomfortable at witnessing this conversation.

"But she's my girlfriend," Ron replied in an upset tone. "Therefore I must know what she's planning, and I want her with me and not at Hogwarts."

"Nothing Ron," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Ron, I'm not planning anything right now. I'm very happy with my life now, and right now I have no intention at changing anything. Maybe we should just give up being boyfriend and girlfriend. Then we could both just live our lives as we want it."

Waggle chose that instant to jump up at Hermione's leg to lick her hand, causing Ron to see red. "Get off her, you dirty mutt," he shouted, making Waggle growl at him fiercely.

"I really think that's the best," Hermione said in determination, leaning down to gently caress Waggle's head.

"No I don't want that. I'll come again," Ron said, stubbornly, and stomped off in a huff.

"He's getting more stupid by the time," Harry muttered, gently laying his arm around Hermione's back, as they finished their walk around the lake and returned to their quarters. "Are you sure that you want to separate from him though?"

"Harry," Hermione replied, sighing. "I have been thinking about this for a while now, and yes, I'm certain."

'Yay, thank Merlin,' Harry thought, trying hard to hide his enthusiasm from his best friend.

=Good riddance,= Waggle said, when they reached their quarters a short while later, causing Harry to wonder where the puppy had learned such a word.

HP

The following months passed uneventfully. Ron Weasley had not shown up anymore, Harry had got used to teaching Potions, even if he still had to study a lot to feel half-way qualified to teach the NEWT classes, and Waggle was behaving as well as Harry could wish for. 'He's the perfect pet,' Harry sometimes thought, feeling very happy to have such a wonderful familiar. However, as the time passed, he corrected his thought. 'He's not a pet, he's family,' he realised. At the same time, another thought kept pushing itself to the front of his mind. 'I want to add Hermione and Crookshanks to our family.' However, Harry did not dare asking his best friend.

=You should just ask her. Everyone but you knows that she likes you,= Waggle voiced his opinion one day, making Harry roll his eyes in annoyance.

'I really have to stop thinking aloud,' he thought and resolved to finally ask Hermione on Valentine's day.

It was a cold but bright Wednesday, when Harry suggested to sit on the bench next to the lake for a moment and watch the Giant Squid play in the moonshine. Hermione complied, surprised, because they had never done such a thing during their regularly walks with Waggle.

Noticing that Waggle sat right in front of him giving him an encouraging look, Harry inwardly growled in annoyance. On the other hand, he felt reassured, knowing that at least his family member thought that the proposal was not absurd.

"Mione," he slowly spoke up. "I'm sorry if this is a bit sudden, but I'd like to ask you if you'd like to become my wife." 'Oh no, I'm stupid,' he inwardly scolded himself. 'I can't even find the right words to properly propose.'

Hermione turned his head to view him, before she replied, without even having to think about the matter, "Yes Harry, I'd live to become your wife."

Harry nearly jumped in shock. "Really?" he asked, barely able to believe his luck.

=Didn't you want to give her the ring that you bought?= Waggle reminded him, causing Harry to blush.

"Ahh sorry," he said, "I'm just too excited." He pulled a small box out of his robe pocket, opened it and reached for Hermione's hand. "I hope you'll like it," he added, carefully sliding a small, golden ring onto her ring finger.

"Thank you Harry," Hermione replied, sounding very happy. She held the ring close to her eyes in order to see the pattern in the light of the almost full moon. "Is this...?"

"A cat and a dog," Harry confirmed, smiling. Seeing her smile happily, he slowly leaned over and covered her lips with his mouth, slowly relaxing as he felt her reply to the kiss.

=Disgusting,= Waggle growled and set to run around the lake in an incredible speed. Only when Harry and Hermione were finished cuddling and kissing fifty minutes later, he returned to their side.

HP

Their colleagues were thrilled to say the least. Minerva invited all of their colleagues to an engagement party in her office on Thursday evening after curfew.

'Was that really necessary?' Harry inwardly groaned in annoyance. In fact, since the afternoon classes, he was not feeling overly well, and he wanted nothing more than having a quiet evening and going to bed early. However, used from his upbringing at the Dursleys' to hide ailments from everyone, no one noticed that something was wrong with him except for Waggle.

After Harry and Hermione had endured the congratulations from all of their colleagues and had eaten a few bites of the delicacies that the house-elves had arranged for, Waggle saw fit to sit in front of the door and yowl.

"Waggle, what's wrong?" Harry enquired. "Do you need to go wee-wee?"

Waggle, however, showed no reaction.

"Shall I take him out?" Rolanda offered, kindly.

"No thank you, he doesn't need to go. If he had to go, he'd have waggled his tail when I asked him," Harry replied, inwardly sighing. "Waggle, are you tired? Do you want to go to bed?" he queried, quirking an eyebrow at the puppy.

Waggle immediately waggled his tail, causing Harry to sigh. "I'm sorry, but would it be very impolite if I retreated for the night?" he asked in a small voice.

"I'm tired too," Hermione came to his help, and their older colleagues quickly excused the young couple from the rest of the party.

"Thanks Waggle, good night Mione," Harry said, gratefully, when they separated in front of their quarters.

"Night Harry," Hermione replied, smiling.

HP

In the morning, Harry woke up feeling dreadful. His head, throat and eyes were sore, and he was shivering in spite of the fact that his quarters were always warm. 'Oh no, I'm ill,' he realised, sighing in annoyance. 'Thank Merlin it's Friday. I only have to get through today's classes, and then I can rest for two days.' He slowly dragged himself out of bed and let Waggle out into the garden. He did not even bother to accompany the puppy like he usually did, knowing that Waggle would return obediently after finishing his business.

Even a hot shower did not help to ease his symptoms, and Harry quickly knocked at Hermione's door to let her know that he was going to skip breakfast with the excuse that he was running late with the preparations of the Potions classroom.

"All right, I'll tell the others," Hermione promised, giving him a sharp look. "Harry, are you all right?" she queried in concern. "You look ill."

"I'm fine," Harry reassured her and quickly returned to his rooms, before his observing friend could ask further questions.

However, getting around Waggle showed itself as the bigger obstacle. As soon as Harry wanted to step into his office, Waggle was in his way, preventing Harry from setting a foot into the office.

"Waggle, please get out of the way," Harry pleaded. "I really have to begin with the preparations for the first morning class."

=You're ill and must go back to bed,= the canine replied, not willing to allow Harry through.

"I know and I'll do that right after the classes," Harry replied, however, Waggle did not give in, barking at Harry and jumping to keep him out of the office. "Sorry Waggle, but I have to do this," Harry finally said and transformed into his Animagus form. Unaware of Waggle's surprised look at his water phoenix form, Harry flashed right into his classroom, glad that he had put the parchments that he needed for his first class on the desk in the classroom as usual. 'I hope Waggle will have given up before the beginning of the second class,' he thought in annoyance. 'As if it wasn't bad enough that I'm sick. No need to make such a fuss.' He slowly began to set up the cauldrons for the students, knowing that they had to commence brewing right away in order to finish their potions before the end of the class.

Fortunately, Waggle had indeed given up waiting for Harry, and Harry was able to drag himself through his morning classes without disturbance. After the last morning class, he walked by the potions lab and gulped down a fever reducer, before he looked into the mirror and cast a concealment charm at himself in order to hide his sickly appearance. Finally, he went to wake up Waggle in order to attend lunch together.

To Harry's relief, his colleagues were distracted by a fight between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first-years, and no one took much notice of him playing with his food. He excused himself fairly early and returned to the classroom, sitting at his desk to rest until the students arrived.

HP

It was during the last afternoon class that Roger, one of the Hufflepuff first-years, blew up his cauldron. Before Harry's foggy mind could even realise what he had to do, Waggle jumped in front of Roger's neighbours and chased them away, before they were hit by the exploding liquid.

'Thank you Waggle,' Harry quickly thought to the puppy, before he cast a series of Evanesco spells and dismissed the students, noticing that the class was over anyway. With a flick of his wand, he cleaned the classroom and retreated to his private quarters.

"You were right. I shouldn't have taught classes," he admitted to the dog. "Potions are too dangerous."

=Go to bed,= Waggle simply instructed him, causing Harry to look at the canine in surprise.

"I have to take you wee-wee first, don't I?" he replied and opened the garden door.

=Just leave the door open for the time being,= Waggle told him, before he dashed away into the garden.

'Maybe that would be the best, at least at the moment,' Harry thought and merely took his shoes and robes off and cancelled the concealment charm, before he crawled into bed, feeling incredibly relieved to be able to lie down.

He closed his eyes and was just about to drift off to sleep, when Waggle suddenly jumped onto the bed. 'Don't go to sleep yet. Here, take this,' the canine told him, telepathically.

When Harry lazily opened his eyes just a little bit, he realised that the dog was carrying a thermometer in his mouth. Groaning in annoyance at the completely unnecessary fuss, he took the device from his familiar and grudgingly took his temperature, noticing with a combination of surprise and shock that it exceeded forty degrees. 'I'm really ill,' he realised, closing his eyes again.

=You need to take some potions,= Waggle instructed him, =or I will call Hermione or Poppy.=

"No, don't," Harry replied. 'Maybe it's the flu if my fever's so high,' he thought and called Nina, asking her to bring him a few doses of the flu potion and the fever reducer. "May I sleep now?" he asked his familiar after gulping down a dose of each.

The puppy did not reply, but lay down close to Harry and shut his eyes. 'He's so cute,' Harry thought, before he drifted off into a fever induced slumber.

Every few hours, Waggle woke him up and made him check his fever before he instructed him to take the next dose of potions, and Harry complied, feeling too miserable to care. He did not even notice that Hermione came to look after him, when he neither showed up for dinner nor for their daily walk; however, Waggle did not allow her into his room, merely let her have a glance to see that he was asleep.

During the night, Harry woke up, feeling even more miserable than before. He opened his eyes that were only willing to open just a little bit. In surprise he noticed that one of the students was sitting on the edge of his bed. He couldn't recognise who it was, but he couldn't care less.

"Water please," he whispered, feeling incredibly thirsty.

Instantly, gentle hands held a glass of water to his mouth and a soft voice instructed him to only take sips. The water felt cool and soothing to his sore throat, and Harry felt extremely grateful to the student, although he had no idea why Waggle would allow a student into his bedroom. As soon as he had finished the water, the glass was exchanged with a phial, and Harry obediently sipped his potions, before he drifted off to a much needed healing sleep.

When he woke up the next time, the student was still there and once again helped him take his potions and drink some water. However, when Harry's mind drifted to awareness in the morning, feeling a bit more alert than earlier, the student was gone. Only Waggle was lying on the bed next to him, sitting up as soon as Harry moved.

"Who was here during the night?" Harry whispered, looking questioningly at the dog.

=No one,= Waggle replied in apparent surprise, just when Hermione entered the room.

"Oh my Harry, you look ill," she said, worriedly approaching his bedside.

"I think I caught the flu, but it's already better," Harry replied, trying to force a small smile onto his face.

Hermione let out a snort and proceeded to take his temperature. "I believe immediately that you're better. You're running a high fever. Apart from that, if you think you caught the flu, why are you taking the potion for pneumonia?" she asked, looking at the night table in confusion, before she stood from the edge of his bed, where she had sat and wiped his flushed face with a cool cloth.

"I don't know," Harry replied weakly, feeling confused. "Waggle or Nina, no idea."

"I'm going to fetch Poppy," Hermione decided.

"No Mione don't," Harry said quickly. "I'll be all right. Waggle has been looking after me, and a student, but I don't know who it was."

"A student?" Hermione asked, incredulously. "I don't think Waggle would allow a student into your bedroom if he kept me out of it last night." With that she left the room in determination.

Harry let out a long sigh that turned into a series of harsh coughs. Shortly later, the healer bustled into the room followed closely by his fiancé. Poppy waved his wand over him, muttering to herself, before she told him, "Yes, you caught indeed pneumonia. Absolute bed rest until I'll tell you otherwise. I should take you with me."

"No," Harry replied, giving the healer a pleading look. "Waggle has been looking after me together with a student, and I'll be fine."

"I'll look after him," Hermione spoke up in determination and, seeing the strange look that the healer cast at the puppy, added, "Waggle, please excuse me for asking this, but are you really a puppy? Or are you an Animagus?"

The healer's features softened some, as she looked from Hermione to the puppy and said in a soft voice, "I believe that you should tell them now. They're your family, aren't they?"

"We are," Hermione agreed in a firm voice, giving the puppy an expectant look.

The instant the puppy morphed into a little boy, Harry whispered, miserably, "Poppy, may I please get some potions now? I'm still delirious."

"Of course dear," the healer replied, smiling, and gently helped him to sit up just enough to take his potions. "Let him sleep," she said to the others, when Harry succumbed to the effects of the potions. He needs it."

"Excuse me Poppy, who is this, and what is the point of the whole masquerade?" Hermione queried in a slightly upset voice.

"Don't you recognise him?" Poppy replied, smiling, before she suggested, "Let's sit in the living room, so that Harry can get some rest."

"Professor Snape?" Hermione guessed in apparent disbelief. "But that's not possible."

She followed her colleague and the boy, who seemed to be about five, deep in thoughts.

"Hermione," the small boy spoke up, "First of all I'm sorry for the 'masquerade' as you put it. Secondly, I am indeed Severus Snape. Only Poppy and Minerva know that I survived the war, however, with a predicament that made it necessary for me to de-age myself." Seeing Hermione look at him with a combination of interest and compassion, he explained, "I only barely escaped death due to the kind interference of Poppy's house-elf who is also a healer elf. Unfortunately, the near-death experience left me with an illness, the magical influenza. I wasn't able to cast magic anymore without becoming very ill, and I only had two choices, to spend my time in my Animagus form or to de-age myself. I am now almost free from the illness, however, I still feel better in my Animagus form, plus I am only five years old with all my memories of my older self, however, without any family. Minerva suggested that I should grow up at Hogwarts..."

"Ahhh, that's why Harry had to become the Potions professor and Slytherin head," Hermione interrupted him, eagerly. "To keep the positions for you, while Minerva is keeping the Transfiguration and Gryffindor head positions for Harry."

"Exactly," Severus confirmed.

"Why didn't she just tell me the truth?" Harry threw in, causing everyone to stare at him in shock.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Poppy queried in a stern voice.

"I had to use the bathroom," Harry replied, letting himself sink into a chair.

"And you chose to become Harry's familiar in order to supervise him and help out if he had problems," Hermione continued guessing.

"Yes," Severus confirmed. "Harry and Hermione, I'm sorry if you feel betrayed by me. Let me assure you that it was not my intention."

"No, it's all right," Harry said slowly. "I understand the situation, and I don't have a problem having you here, be it in your Animagus form or in your human form. You already belong to our family anyway. What do you think, Mione?"

"I fully agree with you," Hermione replied, smiling.

HP

As soon as Harry was back to health, he and Hermione - after long discussions with Minerva, Poppy and Severus - decided to get married on the second of April and to adopt five-year-old Severus as their son.

During the following years, Severus remained in his dog form during classes; however, when he was at home with his parents, he transformed back and assisted Harry with the brewing of the potions for the hospital wing and occasionally corrected the students' homework for his father.

Harry felt very much reassured by the small Potions Master's presence in his classes and often discussed upcoming topics, especially for the NEWT class, with his son. It was also a great relief for him to know that he only had to teach Potions in order to keep the position open for his son and that afterwards he would become the Transfiguration professor. 'Even after teaching Potions for ten years, I'll feel better teaching Transfiguration,' he thought, observing Waggle and Crookshanks cuddle in front of the fireplace in amusement.

When Severus was eight years old, Lily and Albus were born, and the twins adored their big brother, who was a lot of fun, had much time to play with them and always knew good stories to entertain them.

Epilogue

Six years later, Severus Harry Potter was called to the Sorting Hat, while his parents and his two three-year-old siblings were watching the Sorting from the head table.

'You again?' the Hat asked, incredulously.

'Oh well, just get over with it,' Severus replied, impatiently. 'You already know where I belong anyway.'

"Slytherin," the Hat shouted into the hall.

'Thank Merlin,' Harry thought, as his oldest son strode towards his house table. 'Tomorrow I'm going to tell him that Minerva has confirmed that he doesn't have to take his OWLs and NEWTs again. I'll suggest that he becomes my student assistant, so that he'll be able to skip several subjects and instead assist me until he's old enough to take back his old positions.'

"Dada, awe you looketing?" his three-year-old daughter Lily interrupted his thoughts. "Awbus is making a mess."

After Harry cleaned up the table with a flick of his wand, he followed his wife's gaze to the Slytherin table, where Severus was sitting among the eleven other first years talking animatedly.

"I'm so happy that we're able to give Severus a much better childhood this time," he whispered to Hermione, who returned a broad smile.

The End