Chapter 24

                                        

                                              
Published: 6/12/2025

Draco woke up to Potter staring at him. The dog immediately started wagging his tail and crawled forward to lick his face.
"Urgh... I don't need dog breath when I wake up," Draco complained. Maybe he should start brushing Potter's teeth. He wondered if the dog would let him. 
He groggily got up and went to the loo. The bloody dog followed. "Pervert," Draco mumbled and relieved himself. He went to let the dog out but remembered that he had to go out with him.
"Any chance I can convince you to stay in the yard?"
Potter tilted his head. Draco just let him out. It was bloody cold out in the morning. He kept checking that Potter was still in the yard as he brewed coffee and started breakfast. Potter came back to the door.
"Thank you," he said, opening the door for him. "You're a good boy, aren't you!"
Potter did some turns and licked his hand while whining.
"Good boy... let me make us breakfast. Vet said eggs were good for you."
Potter did a whining yawn and looked at him cooking with interest. Draco didn't stop him begging. Honestly... he was starting to enjoy his dog's attention. Potter hadn't jumped on him or had shown any food aggression or insecurity. Other than stealing Draco's dinner that one time... and other time the Tupperware container the dog managed to get into the fridge when he was denying Potter human food, Potter had been very well-behaved concerning food.
As Draco and Potter finished eating breakfast, an owl tapped on the window. Draco eyed Potter as he opened it. The bird soared gracefully in, looping the living room and locating the cage in which to land. Draco was ready to cast a protection spell, but neither Potter nor the owl showed any interest or fear in each other. 
Strange, he thought, as this was a different owl than last time. 
Draco read the message, and Pansy was coming over next weekend. He sent an okay message back as Blaise's owl came in the open window. Potter, who barks every time Draco says squirrel, was apparently completely fine with two owls swooping in and out of the room. Damned odd. Blaise had sent the spells his assistants probably looked up, as well as annoucing his attendance next weekend. Draco thanked Blaise for the spells and sent his owl back.
Draco conjured a new collar and applied Blaise's suggested spells. The collar couldn't slip off Potter's neck, and it wouldn't tighten. He called Potter over. The dog whimpered, looking at it, but obeyed him and came to him.
"I can't have you running around naked, can I?" Draco said, clipping it around Potter's neck with no resistance. Draco tried to pull on the collar, but it didn't tighten. "There, now you're not running around like a hooligan, and the collar can't choke you," Draco explained to the dog.
Potter immediately cheered up and wagged his tail, like he understood. Draco then conjured a metal tag in the shape of a dog bone. Then he stenciled in Potter's name and Draco's mobile number. Draco decided to add a Tracer Charm to the collar, too, just in case. Draco ruffled up Potter's hair, which the dog whined for more.
"Of course, you want more, Potter," he said, obliging him.
Draco eventually got dressed fully and took Potter outside. It was time to fix the fence. One by one, Draco raised the fence poles up another five feet, now taller than small trees, nearly fifteen feet high. When he was done, he looked at Potter, who wagged his tail and tilted his head.
"You're not getting out, now," Draco dared to say.
Potter gave him a look, almost a snort. Draco felt like he knew what Potter was saying: "Challenge accepted, human."
Then Potter turned to the fence, backed up a bit and ran full force at the fence. Draco watched in amazement as Potter climbed the wall, grabbing the top with his front paws and hauling himself on the top. He poised at the top and looked over, ready to jump.
"Hey! Hey! Wingardium Leviosa!" Draco said, and Potter floated up. Draco directed him back down on the right side of the fence.
Potter woofed at him like saying, "Hey!".
"You don't need to get hurt," he muttered, and then he sighed at the fence. 
He raised the boards up to twenty feet across the yard over the next hour. Draco looked at the dog again, who tried. This time, Potter skidded back down to the ground. Draco stopped him before he dropped too hard. Potter barked at the fence and tried again but failed.
"I want to say I won, but it'd be a fucking first," Draco muttered, tired from two hours of Transfiguration rework. He went in for lunch and, after a brief food rest, took his pooch out to the yard to play ball.
Potter loved it, and so did Draco.





Sorry I get distracted by shiny objects sometimes. Like other stories.