Just By Chance Pet Finished

Nick's mom had gotten an unexpected bonus this summer for being, as her boss put it, "Exemplary asset to the Ministry for her entire career". He didn't make fun of her boss's... interesting... wording for the bonus because she gave him a small cut of that bonus. It was her way of showing her appreciation that Nick is still a child but just rolls with the punches that her work schedule throws at him.

So, Nick decided to go out to Diagon Alley to see what he should buy. He could buy a lot of stuff with this amount of money, from a month's worth of candy to a decent broom for Quidditch, though he would never use it. He decided he would go to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes to see if they had any new or interesting items.

On the way to the store, he passed a store that he went by almost every single time he was in this alley, Magical Menagerie. This time, though, he stopped and looked at the store. Per usual, the store displayed some of the various pets they sell like owls, cats, and toads. They were content with themselves for now, but they would be happier with an owner.

Seeing the various creatures made Nick feel a tinge of loneliness. Nick spent most of his summer alone, what with his mom working and him not really making friends at Hogwarts. Looking at the galleons in his pocket, he impulsively decided to get a pet. He had plenty of money, and his allowance could cover the costs of the pet over time.

Walking into the shop, he was greeted by the warm smile of the nice lady who runs the shop. "Hello there! Are you looking for anything?" she said softly. "Oh no, I'm just looking to see if I like any of the pets here." Nick said as he started to roam around the store. "Ok, well, let me know if you're drawn to any of the lovely pets we have." she said, returning to her work behind the counter.

Walking around the store, none of the animals caught his attention. Even if they did, he couldn't have most of them for various reasons, whether their house is way too small to house that pet or his mother doesn't like or is allergic to them.

Going over to the small cages, he saw various little rats playing around with each other and on the cage toys. Nick knows they're pretty intelligent and fun creatures that are also pretty small. He knows his mom would be fine with a rat as long as he took care of it, which he obviously would. So, why not get a small rat as a friend?

He was about to ask the lady to take a rat out so he could see if he liked it, but he felt a bump on his leg. Looking down, he saw a small pink ball of fluff at his leg that was snuggling against him. He identified it as a pygmy puff, a very common pet that a couple of girls in his town have. There was this boy in his town that used to have a pygmy puff, and all of the guys were really harsh to him because the pet was "girly."

"Oh, sorry about that, these little guys seem to always escape and roll around the floor." the lady said, picking the pygmy puff up gently. Nick followed her over to the pen where they were all rolling around and playing. He followed the pygmy puff that had bumped into him roll around the pen for a minute. It seemed lovable and fluffy, he could see why they were so popular.

He knew that his mom wouldn't want the pygmy puff. Their hair would get all over the house, and she tried to avoid anything that could end up being the main topic around the gossip circle. He was old enough to take care of a pet though, maybe he could just... hide it from her?

He could definitely pull it off, but why should he get the pygmy puff in the first place? They were for girls, weren't they? Besides, the entire town thought that boy shouldn't have one, so why should he? Then again, he remembered Hogwarts, it seemed so long ago though he was about to return to it soon. The school was full of people who didn't conform to gender standards. Boys wore makeup and girls took up most of the Quidditch team.

Why did the town have such strict rules on what certain people can and can't do? It felt like he was chained to do stuff that he didn't want to do, and when he stepped out of line dozens of eyes would burn into him. At Hogwarts, he felt free. He would do stuff that would give him a shunning in town, that wouldn't matter at Hogwarts.

'You know what, who cares what the town thinks? They're not going to know about the pygmy puff anyway, let's just get the little guy' Nick thought. Looking pack to the pygmy puff, he saw he was looking at him. He felt like he had already formed a connection with the fluff ball, even though he'd barely known him.

"Um ma'am, I would actually like to... um... purchase that pygmy puff." Nick said, pointing to the little guy staring at him. "Oh, of course dear! Just follow me." she said, picking up the pygmy puff once again. Following her to the counter, she set the pygmy puff down, and Nick started scratching it, causing the pygmy puff to make happy noises.

"That will be 20 galleons dear. What would you like to name him?" she asked happily. As Nick counted the galleons, he wondered what he should name him. He didn't want something generic like Fluffy or Buddy. He decided he would name him after the unexpected gift he was to Nick, Chance.

"I'm going to call him Chance." Nick said, sliding the galleons across the counter. The lady smiled and took the galleons. Picking up Chance, he snuggled him close to him. "Thank you ma'am." Nick said as he left the store. He smiled at the little pygmy puff, who was snuggling happily in his arms. He walked over to the ice cream parlor across the street, hiding Chance would be a problem soon, but he wanted to spend time with his new buddy.

Word Count: 1,080

What animal do you wish to purchase? Pink Pygmy Puff
What do you want to name it? Chance
Is this a boy or a girl? Boy
What is your pet's date of birth? January 21st, 2020