The Wolf

It had become a ritual.

First I would wake up; Most days I managed to awaken with the shrill ringing of my alarm clock. Then I would prepare breakfast, along with a plate of beef, or minced meat, or chicken (honestly, it was mostly chicken. It gets expensive to buy loads of meat everyday.) (I'm not even thinking about the implications of my consumer choices.)

The wolf was always there. It took me a few days to realize that the wolf slept here too, staying overnight.

I sit down on my porch, placing the chicken beside me and dig into my cheese and balogna sandwich, just as the wold stick's it's muzzle into the chicken.
When we both finish our meal, I remain there for a while, stroking the wolf's pelt. It lays it's head on my lap, tail thumping against the ground. I attempt to get a peek, wether the wolf is a girl or a boy, but I still don't see anything.

I gently extract myself from underneath the wolf and as I head inside, I realize the wolf is following me today.

"Do you- You want to go inside?", I ask.

"You can't follow me. No, stay outside.", I insist, placing one hand on the wolf's chest, the other on its head and tentatively holding him back.

Here I am, bodily handling a wild wolf. A dangerous animal. The wolf growls and whines. Then, it slips past me. I attempt to block it with a hastily placed leg, so what does it do? It weasels in between my legs, about to make a run for it and in what has to be the crowning of my series of exceptionally bad choices, I sit on the wolf, pinning it underneath me.

"Oh shit, don't bite!", I shout in a panic, shooting up the next second and stumbling away. However, the wolf seems to be far more interested in using the oportunity to head inside than to seek revenge for the indecency of being sat on.

"Merlin, fuck me.", I sigh, carding a hair through my dense hair and pulling just a little, using the sting to ground myself.

Tentatively, I follow the wolf inside. To my great surprise I find neither chaos nor anarchy. The wolf politely glances around, taking in the living room before sitting on my new armchair.

"That's my seat.", I tell it and one ear flicks, as if to shoo away a bothersome flea.

I should get that couch sooner rather than later. The wolf gets more comfortable on the armchair and I awkwardly perch on the armrest.

"I was thinking about buying a couch." I tell the wolf. Since the wolf has no language processing capabililities necessary to judge me, I feel free to continue talking. I place one hand on its head, absentmindedly scratching behind its ear.

"I don't really know why I haven't gotten around to doing it yet. I mean, I could have just gone out any day. Merlin, even yesterday. But somehow I don't actually get around to doing it...
Sure, I could do it today, but I'm already doing the groceries. I've been doing more of that since you happened upon me, you know, and apparently couldn't leave me alone."

I pause, curiously peering back at the wolf. "You know, I haven't been able to figure it out, but there's something magical about you, isn't there?"

As I ask the question, the wolf's head swerves up. It jolts immediately out of its drowsiness, tail waging and intent gaze focused on me.

"Uh, I ran a diagnostic spell on you. When I touch you I can feel it. Like a spell? Enchantment, charm. But there is some reason you're behaving unusually for a wolf, isn't there?"

The wolf gets up, practically gets all up in my face, so obviously I back off. I don't think I have a particularly good looking face. Brown skin, rather straight nose (the bump is not excesively prominent), green eyes (Molly says they're arrestingly handsome), strong eyebrows, and, of course, the scar. Probably my best feature for pulling. But also the one I don't want to be the reason for romantic interest. I digress, what I mean to say is that I don't want my face to be bitten off.

What the wolf does next makes my trainwreck of a thought drop off the rails, off the radar. It howls, quietly. Softly and very weirdly. The noise goes on and the longer the wolf continues whatever it seems to be doing, the more frustrated it seems.

"It's ok." I stutter in reassurance. "Calm down. Just breathe?"

How do you console wolves? I place one hand on its head, petting it.

"There, there." I say. The wolf shakes my hand off, insistantly howling at me again, a mix of snarls, barks and growls.

"I don't know what you're trying to tell me." I say, honestly overwhelmed.

The wolf gives up, turning its back and heading out, into the garden. I shrug in surrender, observing it patting around the muddy lawn, then pick up the plate still sitting outside and head to the kitchen. There is certainly something more to that wolf. I'm no step closer to figuring out what it is, but more assured in my belief that there is definitely something. Just something.

I hear a patter-patter, claws clicking against the floor. It seems the wolf decided to enter again. Fine, I'll grant it sanctuary. What is the great difference betwen wolves and dogs anyway? The wolf seems completely docile, I doubt its a risk to let it in.

I turn back to the living room and to my horror I discover the animal dragged in all the mud from outside. There is an absolute mess on my hardwood floor and the wolf keeps smearing around with the mud.

"What do you think you're doing?" I yell at it. Perhaps I shouldn't allow a wolf inside after all. Determined to usher it outside, I storm over. Til the very last second the wolf continues smearing mud across the floor, then snaps at me as I reach a hand towards it. I pull back, perhaps I should reflect on how to approach this.

The answer is obvious, I pull out my wand.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" I say. But it has no effect on the wolf. Perhaps..

"Levicorpus!" I try next and the wolf yelps as it is lifted in the air.

"Oh, you're a boy then." I say and the wolf attempts to turn away from me mid-air.

I scoff as I direct the wolf outside. "We're both men here. No need for that."

When the wolf has levitated to the middle of my lawn I end the spell with a silent Finite. Haphazardly, it manages to land on all four paws and I shut the door a bit forcefully. I glance down at the mess left on my hardwood floor. Lesson learned, no more indoor wolves.

With a grand suffering sigh I resign myself to fetching a towel and mopping up the mess.

+++

I didn't buy a couch, it seemed like too much of an effort. No. However, I did order one over the phone, the one I saw in the prospect, which matches my armchair. To be delivered! What luxuries the modern world offers us. I sit down in my armrest, sighing in comfort as I wrap my blanket around me. I borrowed a new book from the small muggle library in Godric's Hollow.

It is another rainy evening, the sky darkening faster due to the clouds covering the fading sunrays. I hear scattered raindrops clashing against the glassfront to my garden. My fireplace is burning, filling the bungalow with a cozy warmth and the livingroom with a soothing orange light. And just as I sink into a sense of peace, I hear a scratching.

First it is silent and I barely notice it. Then it gets more repetitive, more nerve-grinding, followed by a dramatic, pityful whine.

I heave myself up to lock gazes with the wolf, standing just on my porch, completely soaked and ears dropping. I groan and cover my face with both hands.

"Harry, don't do it." I plead with myself. But there is no use, I stand up and walk over to the glass doors. I open them just an inch.

I sigh, then hesitate. "You- you're cold aren't you?"

The wolf stares up at me, unblinking.

"Just, you know, you can't make such a mess."

The wolf continues to stare, uncomprehending.

"Wait here, I'll come right back." I tell it and close the door.

I fetch a towel from the bathroom, a deep blue color, and head back to the wolf. Opening the door fully, I crouch down, towel spread in my arms.

"Alright, this is how we're doing it." I explain, wrapping the towel around the wolf.

"Poor you, you're just sodden aren't you?"

The wolf burrows his wet muzzle against my neck as I rub him as dry as I can manage to.

"That'll have to do." I decide and move to allow the wolf inside. To my surprise he wipes his paws best he can before entering. Well, it would seem we are not repeating this morning's mistake. The wolf settles down by the fireplace, so I get comfortable again in my armchair and pick up the book I hadn't begun yet.