This is just an idea that came to me randomly, it's completely written, but I'm posting it in chapters because it's a bit longer than I'd anticipated.

Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Chapter One!

Finally a safe enough distance away to rest, Harry dropped his trunk and plopped down on top of it, nerves frazzled and completely exhausted from his hasty and angry escape. He desperately hoped he wouldn't get expelled for what he did to Aunt Marge.

Though she definitely deserved it.

Now, though, Harry was faced with an all new problem, where could he could he go? How could he get far enough away that magical or muggle law enforcement couldn't find him? What if he was expelled?

Harry really felt like crying, but he knew he had to keep it together if he really was going to get away from everyone…or at least the Dursleys.

Then out of the corner of his eye deep in the dark of the alley, Harry saw the shadow of a massive, wild-haired dark dog in the shadows and tried to bite back a scream as he toppled over his trunk-tonight just kept getting worse and worse.

The dog slowly advanced towards him, looking like a monstrous, wild wolf, and then ducked its head down in submission and whined. Shocked, Harry lifted himself up on his elbows and looked at the large beast that had dropped down on its belly and was whimpering, staring plaintively at him.

"Nice doggy," Harry said fearfully, "good doggy."

The dog's head cocked and its mouth opened and its tongue lolled out and it made a soft, questioning "aroo."

"You're friendly?" Harry asked the dog cautiously, "Please don't hurt me."

The dog made a noise like a sneeze and shook its head, and then calmly pranced over to Harry and began sniffing and licking eagerly at his face.

"Ugh!" Harry exclaimed, attempting to shield his face from the dog, "Hey! Stop that!"

The dog began snuffing around his armpit and Harry began giggling uncontrollably because it tickled.

"Come on," Harry squealed, pushing at the dog's head, "leave me alone!"

The dog sat back on its haunches and wagged its tail hard enough to make a thumping noise. Harry pushed himself up off the ground and then settled down onto his trunk to stare at the dog.

"It's funny," Harry told the dog, "I just ran away because a woman was calling my mum a worthless mutt, and now I meet a worthless mutt that's much nicer than her purebred dogs."

The dog's tail stopped wagging and the dog closed its mouth. Harry instantly put up his guard again, and the dog whimpered and slunk up to him to lick his hand. Harry smiled and patted the dog's head, "You're a good dog, aren't you?"

The dog jumped up and wagged its tail so hard his whole back-end followed along too.

Harry giggled and then looked around, standing up and grabbing his heavy trunk, "I should probably go, I did something bad…"

The dog whimpered and began sniffing around Harry and his trunk.

Feeling silly, Harry told the dog, "It was nice to meet you, and I hope you find someone who can take care of you."

Then the dog picked up a stick and offered it to Harry.

"No," Harry told it, "I have to go, I can't play right now."

The dog whined plaintively and nudged Harry's leg.

"Sorry," Harry replied, "I can't."

The dog jumped up on him, it was nearly as tall as he was, and that's when Harry's realized what the dog was holding.

"My wand!" Harry exclaimed and the dog jumped down off him, and Harry took it from the dog's mouth-it was slimy, but at least the dog had known what it was and given it to him. Wait…what?

"You knew?" Harry asked the dog, which wagged its tail and circled happily around him. "Just what sort of dog are you?"

The dog tilted its head and then jumped back up onto Harry, licking his face ferociously.

"Gross!" Harry exclaimed, "No, come on, stop it!"

The dog then jumped up onto Harry's trunk and looked up eagerly at him. Then Harry got a crazy idea.

"Do you want to come with me?" He asked the dog, and the dog barked once in excitement and then hopped down off his trunk.

Off in the distance Harry heard something that sounded like someone yelling his name, the dog's ears perked up and its head turned to look off into the distance.

"Oh no!" Harry whispered, "I've got to get out of here!"

Then the dog jumped up to nudge his arm.

"What is it?" Harry asked. The made a series of whines and whimpers that sounded oddly like he was trying to speak, then he snuffed at the ground and looked around.

"Is there something here?" Harry asked in confusion.

The dog then suddenly looked back into the shadows that he'd come from and took a few steps that way, growling at something.

Alarmed and not wanting to get snuck up on by something else, Harry lifted his wand and said, "Lumos!"

A large triple-decker purple bus appeared and the dog bounded back over to Harry, tail wagging eagerly and tongue lolling, as if that's what the dog had been intending all along.

Harry stared at the dog in shock as the door to the bus opened.

The dog sent the entire ride curled up at Harry's feet fast asleep and when the stop for the Leaky Cauldron arrived, he jumped up and eagerly looked to Harry to lead the way.

At the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry paused and realized that he probably wouldn't be allowed in with his companion.

"I don't know that they'll let me bring a dog in," Harry informed his canine friend, looking downtrodden, "I don't know what to do now."

The dog pawed at the door, not seeming to understand Harry's words.

Harry's trunk weighed heavily on his arms, "What do we do?"

The dog's pawing knocked the door open slightly and the dog stuck its nose in, sniffing eagerly at the smell of food in the air.

"Hey," Harry chided the dog, "you can't go in there."

The door opened all the way and the dog stepped just inside and sat down, staring at Harry. A man stood at the door holding it open, "He can come in so long as he's trained."

"Oh," Harry said brightly and he made his way inside, dragging his trunk behind him.

"You going to be getting a room?" The man asked.

"Yeah," Harry replied.

"Then let me help you," The man said, easily lifting Harry's trunk, "you're thin as a leaf! I'm surprised you got your trunk here by yourself."

Harry bristled at the insults to his physique, the man carried Harry's trunk all the way to the counter, and Harry suddenly realized that the man was Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron. Harry felt embarrassed he hadn't caught on before.

The dog obediently followed behind Harry and Tom.

"Now, if your dog's going to be staying with you, you're going to have to put down a pet deposit," Tom told Harry, "if he tears up anything in the room or makes any 'accidents' it comes out of your pocket, and the dog spends the rest of the time chained out in front."

"Okay," Harry agreed, looking to the dog, "he'll behave, won't you, boy?"

The dog barked once in agreement and wagged his tail.

"I'll believe it when I see it," Tom replied, "dogs'll be dogs. You should give him a bath, too, I don't know what he got into, but it looks rotten."

The dog whined in protest, but once they'd gone up to the room, he sat quietly in the bathtub and allowed Harry to bathe him without any protest. After though, he shook his whole body and covered the entire room and Harry with water. Harry had to chase the dog down and went through several towels before it was finally dry and looking like a completely different dog.

"You could pass as a respectable canine," Harry told him and the dog barked, tail slapping back and forth. "Except for the mess you made!"

Harry examined his clothes and grimaced, "Eugh, gross! Couldn't you have at least kept me dry?"

The dog sneezed a few times in a row and then lay down.

"Well, I think I need to take a shower, now," Harry sighed and pulled of his shirt and to his surprise the dog left the bathroom and went to lay down on the bed and Harry shrugged and closed the door once the dog had left.

When Harry finished showering and dressed in his pajamas, he found the dog curled up on the bed still as if he hadn't moved. The only thing that changed was that next to him was an untouched tray of food for dinner. One of the plates was covered in a disgusting mix of various foods and bones, which Harry realized was for the dog.

He slid it over to the excited dog and began eating his own meal.

Later, Harry dug out some of his schoolbooks and read through them while the dog gnawed on a particularly large bone.

"I should give you a name," Harry realized.

The dog held his paw up in response.

"What is it," Harry asked, as the dog waved his paw. "Is something wrong?"

The dog continued to wave his paw at Harry.

"Is your name Wave?" Harry snorted, "Or Paw? Is that what you're trying to say?"

The dog made a series of noises that sounded like he was trying to speak, but didn't realize he was a dog. Harry laughed and ruffled the dog's fur, "I'll give you a name, don't worry."

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "I can't think of anything…I know! I'll just flip through this book and whatever it lands on will be your name!"

The dog looked very alarmed by this and began sniffling at the book, poking the pages with his wet nose.

"Hey, hey," Harry exclaimed, picking up the book, "don't ruin the book!"

The dog whined.

Harry flipped through the book and stopped at a random page, "See look!" Harry cheerfully brandished the page, "It's not so bad! Wolfsbane! That's a pretty cool name, huh?"

The dog snorted and then sneezed several times in a row and Harry beamed and ruffled the newly dubbed Wolfsbane's fur.

That night Harry dreamt that he heard the shower running and Wolfsbane came out of the bathroom, holding shampoo and conditioner bottles in his mouth. He asked Harry which was which because he was a dog and dogs couldn't read. Later Harry dreamt that Wolfsbane went into the bathroom to use the toilet and was even able to flush it, and then Wolfsbane came out and said there was no more toilet paper and he'd have to ask Tom for more.

When Harry woke up, all the toilet paper was indeed gone.