No other pet could ever be a Mister, or a Mouse, unless familiar or Foo magic managed to keep them alive that long; but I'd like to think Harry would always keep some pet, as an uncomplicated source of love to come home to, no matter his current living situation. :)

(When I was given the prompt, I decided to tentatively set this fic in the same verse as Gather Seashells While You May, but didn't quite explicitly connect them. Maybe eventually?)