Animal [Harry Potter ~ Dean Thomas]

Prologue

Summer was nearing its end. Children would be returning to school soon. The warmth of August would be gone eventually. On the steps outside of the small, red brick flat in London sat a young boy with football in hand. Inside the flat, his sisters were playing and shouting. He wanted to get away from it, just for a moment. He loved his sisters dearly, but he enjoyed time to himself.

The sun would set in an hour or so. Until then, the boy, Dean Thomas, would sit on the steps silently until his mother would eventually call him in for dinner. A cool breeze came in. The wind on his skin felt soothing. Dean turned his head to see someone approaching him.

It was a girl. Her light brown hair was in its usual pony tail. Her raggedy satchel was slung over her shoulder. Dean knew this girl, and she knew him. Without greeting him, the girl sat down next to him on the steps and admired the sky with him.

"Hey," Dean greeted her. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk," the girl, Finley, explained.

"About?"

Finley's shoulders slumped. She didn't want to tell her friend the news, but she had to. Dean Thomas was her best friend and he deserved to know. Dean sat on the edge of the steps, eager to find out what the great Finley Warren had to tell him.

"Well, I uh," Finley searched for the words. "I-I've been accepted to um, a boarding school."

"Boarding school?" Dean repeated. "You're going to boarding school too?"

"Yeah, my mum sent back a letter saying I'll be able to go- wait, did you say 'too'?"

Dean nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm going to boarding school too. What's your school called?"

"Oh, I don't remember," Finley lied. "Some fancy shmancy school for kids with . . . talents. The head master explained everything to me. And yours?"

Dean tossed his football in the air and caught it repeatedly. Finley wished he'd pay attention. Dean was always distracted by football.

"It doesn't really matter. It's just some place for kids who get right out primary school."

"So this means we won't see each other until I come back for Christmas," Finley mentioned.

"Yeah, guess so," Dean sighed. "Is that why you came over? To tell me you're leaving eventually?"

"Not just that."

Finley turned to her satchel. It was cluttered and filthy. The bag had been dragged, abused, stained, and clawed at by her tabby cat, Tom. Finley removed a piece of paper from her bag. It didn't have a single crease. The corners were still in perfect condition. Finley cared for this piece of paper a lot. She handed it over to Dean.

The piece of paper had a drawing on it. It was a sketch of her sitting in her living room. Dean, who was very talented when it came to art, would sometimes draw things for Finley.

Dean looked up at the grey-eyed girl feeling confused. What did she want him to do with this? Was she returning it? That'd make no sense, he had worked hard on this. Sure, it could've been better. The hands were sloppy and he got lazy so he didn't draw the details on the couch and framed photos.

"You forgot to sign it," Finley mentioned.

"Why do I need to sign it?"

"C'mon, Dean, every great artist signs their work."

"I'm no great artist."

"Well you are in my opinion."

Dean could feel himself blushing. The words she spoke were so simple, but so meaningful to him. Finley handed him a pen and Dean initialed the corner. He handed it back to her and she carefully put it back in her bag.

"So when do you leave for school?" Dean asked.

"On September first," she answered.

"Hey, that's the same day I leave!"

"Cool," Finley chuckled. "Anyway, see you later, Dean."

"Back at ya, Finn."

Dean watched her walk off and he tossed his football in the air and caught it. It'd be tough to leave his best friend.

~~~~~

AN: Hello! So Dean Thomas is my favorite character from the Harry Potter series and I wanted to write a story focusing on him and my OC. I hope you guys like it!

I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO HARRY POTTER. Almost everything in this story was created by J.K. Rowling. The only things of my creation is Finley Warren, her family, Dean's sisters, and a few other things along the way. Just thought I'd have that in there for legal purposes, ok, bye!