Chapter Text
Harry and Hermione breathed in the soft summer air as they walked hand in hand back to their home. It had been a while since they had an afternoon out to themselves, and it felt good to enjoy each other’s company outside of the house.
The day drew to a close moments later, and the sun had dipped below the horizon as they arrived at the front door of the Potter family cottage. They stepped into their home together, sporting lazy smiles, and awaited the excited greeting they knew was coming.
As was expected, a great Irish wolfhound bounded over to them while wagging his tail and panting with unadulterated happiness. Harry was quick to brace himself for the attack of licks and kisses from the dog.
“Hey, boy,” he greeted his pet, softly petting and scratching its mane. “What have you been up to?”
It took Harry a moment to register the fact that his wife hadn’t greeted their dog with the same affection. He looked up at her askance, finding her staring at a pile of clothes next to the recliner chair he’d bought from himself.
“What’s wrong, love?” He asked her while still petting the hound.
“What’s wrong?” Hermione turned to him, face icy in a look that he knew all too well, and leveled her gaze to their pet. “What’s wrong is that this damned dog found my uniforms to use as a blanket again.”
Harry got a confused expression before turning to the pile of clothes, ignoring his dog’s soft whines for attention, and looking closer. Sure enough, he noticed that it was indeed a pile of his wife’s healer uniforms. The white ones specifically.
“Shepherd,” the exasperated wizard chastised immediately afterwards.
The dog settled down, knowing full well being addressed by name meant that he was in trouble. He sat at attention while Harry sighed at him and shook his head disappointedly.
This was now the umpteenth time that the dog had found his mother’s uniforms and used them as his personal blanket. Harry and Hermione had honestly lost count. The creature always seemed to find the clothes no matter where they were hidden.
Harry stood up with the same disappointed expression on his features, and decided he wasn’t going to try and calm his wife this time. He’d been the one to settle her down from lecturing and punishing their pet, but that couldn’t happen now.
“Shepherd,” Hermione glared at the hound, “how many times are you going to keep doing this? I need those clothes for work, and I can’t keep having to wash them because of you ruining them.”
Had it been any other time, the wizard would have laughed at his wife speaking to their pet as though he was a human who could understand them. It was hilarious, but he knew better than to let his bemusement show.
Maybe her way of discipline would work. Merlin only knew that his hadn’t. All of his efforts to hide the uniforms had sadly failed. Perhaps a lecture from the brightest witch of her age, just like the ones he himself had gotten, would do the trick.
“This isn’t nice,” said Hermione in a voice that reeked of disappointment. “It’s not funny, and it’s not cute. You do this every time, you see mummy get annoyed every time, and you still do it. And now you’re sitting here looking sad because I have to lecture you.”
A chuckle escaped Harry, but he was quick to cover it up with a fake cough before forcing a serious look onto his face. His heart melted at the sad look he saw on Shepherd’s face though. It was both somewhat funny and saddening at the same time.
“You know exactly what I’m saying right now too. Of course you do.” Hermione shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. Her frustration was practically radiating off of her. “You know that I’m mad at you right now. I can see it on your face, and I know you know that you’ve done something wrong.”
She wasn’t lying about that. It was clear as day that the poor dog knew it was in trouble, but even more than that, it seemed like there was a genuine look of regret on his face. Harry got the sense that any future instances of his wife’s uniforms being used as a doggie blanket were snuffed out.
“So this is the first and last time that I’m going to tell you this,” Hermione furiously gestured to the pile of clothes as Shepherd looked at it then looked back to her, “do not touch mummy’s uniforms again. They’re not for you, and they’re not your blankets.”
Harry couldn’t help but wince as she delivered the admonition. The sheer authority behind it would make any human cower, much less a dog. He didn’t say anything to her though. With any luck, he wouldn't have to face the music of his wife’s lecture like his loyal pet was doing right now.
“That being said, Shepherd,” she pointed to a spot in front of the sofa, “you are on timeout until I call for dinner. Go and lay down there now. And don’t move a muscle.”
There was no protest from the hound as he did as was told. Unlike the many other times where he dutifully obeyed a command, however, this one was far more expressive.
Again, Harry had to keep from laughing at it all. It took an ungodly amount of effort to not even smile when Shepherd plopped down on his belly and settled in to lie down. The sadness and shame that poured off the creature could not be ignored.
“Was I too harsh?” Hermione turned to him with worry shining clearly in her amber eyes. “Oh dear, I feel like I hurt him now.”
The turnaround from disciplinarian to soft mother from her nearly gave Harry whiplash. He had to laugh at her after that, but instantly settled down when she swatted his shoulder.
Raising his hands in surrender, he told her, “Relax, love, he’ll get over it. And I think he actually understands not to touch those uniforms now. Give him some time to stew on what he did wrong, and then you can go back to doting on him.”
“But what if he gets scared of me now? What if he thinks I don’t love him anymore? What if he thinks we’re going to give him away?” She fired the questions like a barrage of spellfire at him.
“He won’t even think about any of that after you feed him and play with him again. Trust me,” he replied with a touch of firmness laden in his voice.
“Fine.” Nothing in her voice convinced him that she was even close to being okay with everything.
Harry decided to think of solutions for the quandary he was now in. He thought about everything for a good moment until the solution came to him like a bludger. How hadn’t he thought of it before?
“Alright, babe,” he shot a calming smile at his wife, “here’s what we’ll do. We’re keeping him on timeout until dinner tonight like you said you would, and we’ll go pick up some extra uniforms tomorrow for you. That way, he can keep the ones he’s using. Sounds good?”
“Brilliant, we'll even build a bed for him using them,” Hermione enthusiastically told him in return. She was practically bouncing with excitement.
“Sure thing, love. Let’s go get changed and get dinner started now.”