Sweet Creature || Sirius Black

ꕤ in the doghouse ꕤ

The sun shines brightly on the granite stones of the courtyard, making the freezing temperatures almost bearable as students cut through the enclosed area to get to their classes. With scarcely anyone remaining outside any longer than necessary, it's relatively quiet as the population of Hogwarts go about their days, everyone blissfully unaware that all hell is about to break loose.

Emaline and Cynthia sit together on one of the benches surrounding the ever flowing fountain in the center of the courtyard, their faces upturned to bask in the warm rays of sunlight while it lasts. The first snowfall of the season will soon be upon them, and with it comes months of gray skies and harsher weather, so the two girls are desperate to soak up as much vitamin d as possible before the sun all but disappears until the spring.

"Marriage is nothing but a social suicide scam," Cynthia says, continuing their game of Pick Apart. "How am I meant to survive if my future husband has an ugly last name?"

Pick Apart is a game only they know the rules to, for the two best friends made it up together during their long road trip throughout America in the summer of their fourth year. The verbal game is easy enough to get the hang of, for one person simply has to pick a topic - which can be something as specific as the assassination of Franz Ferdinand (which they once argued about for three weeks) or as vague as the mere existence of flowers - and then they go back and forth making up hoaxes and problems to turn it into a conspiracy. Their current topic is marriage.

"That's easy enough to fix. Just have them take your last name," Emaline counters. "I, on the other hand, am screwed if the love of my life somehow has a last name worse than Pettigrew."

"I don't think his last name is that bad," Cynthia reassures her.

Emaline turns her head away from the sun ever so slightly to fix her friend with an odd look, confused as to who exactly she is referring to. "You don't think I'm going to be with Todd forever, do you?"

"You know damn well that's not who I meant."

Before she can respond rudely, the undeniable annoyed screech of Lily Evans echoes throughout the courtyard, catching everyone's attention.

James is standing in front of her, levitating Padfoot and saying something she most definitely isn't finding as charming as he had hoped.

"That little liar!" Emaline gasps, immediately recognizing the animal as the lost pet she met in Hogsmeade.

"What?" Cynthia questions, lost as to what she's referring to.

"Peter promised me he found that dog's owners," she explains, her anger rising as James lifts Padfoot higher above his head. "When I get my hands on him-"

"Who's to say he didn't find the owners and got permission to borrow the dog for whatever this stunt is?" Cynthia reasons.

"What kind of owners would agree to a group of dumbasses using their dog for a potentially harmful prank?"

"Really bad ones?"

"Touché."

Lily jumps up from the bench she had been sharing with Dorcas Meadows, startling James so badly that he drops the dog. Emaline rises from her seat as well, fully prepared to hex the bespectacled boy into oblivion if Lily doesn't.

Luckily, Padfoot is unharmed and back on his feet in an instant, bounding over to Emaline and Cynthia as Lily starts to threaten James within an inch of his life.

Emaline slowly sinks back onto the bench, allowing the dog to practically throw the upper half of his body into her lap. She doesn't notice the mud his dirty paws rake all over her skirt, too busy checking for injuries and petting his soft fur to his heart's content.

"Cynthia, meet Butter," Emaline introduces the two, her voice several octaves higher as she speaks to the dog. "And Butter, meet Cynthia."

Padfoot pays the other girl no mind and Cynthia, having scooted as far away as the bench will allow, is perfectly content to admire the dog from a distance. Cynthia isn't particularly frightened of dogs, but something about this one's erratic behavior puts her on edge.

Emaline is perfectly oblivious to these oddities and, once she's certain the dog is okay, tries to pick their game back up from where they left off.

"It's my turn, right? I-"

"Not so fast," Cynthia cuts her off, her eagerness to tease her best friend overriding her concerns involving Padfoot. "I wasn't done with my point."

Emaline's smile drops, instantly being replaced with a withering glare.

"You have to admit that Emaline Black does have a nice ring to it."

Padfoot whines from where his head rests in Emaline's lap while her fingers run repetitively through his fur, raising one of his paws as if to second Cynthia's statement.

"Even Butter agrees!"

"Don't use this good boy to guilt me into dating Sirius."

Cynthia groans, resisting the urge to shake common sense into the girl. "So what? You're never going to do anything about your crush on him?"

"Finding him vaguely attractive and having a crush on him are two very different things."

"You're impossible."

The shouts that have been echoing from the opposite side of the courtyard cease as Lily surprisingly decides to spare James's life without so much as a single hex cast. He doesn't dare to push his luck and immediately runs up to the older girls, eager to get him and his four-legged friend out of the fiery girl's line of vision.

"Let's go, Padfoot!"

Padfoot doesn't move, instead acting as though he hadn't heard the boy and closing his eyes resolutely.

"Who are you talking to?" Emaline asks, confused as to which of them he's mistaken for his annoying friend.

"The dog," he answers as though it should be obvious before trying again to get the animal to move. "We need to go, Padfoot!"

"I'm not stupid," she scoffs. "I know Padfoot is Sirius."

"You do?" James completely misunderstands Emaline's accusation and glances repeatedly between her and the dog, utterly bewildered as to how this scenario came about.

"Of course I do." It's once again her turn to be confused, wondering if he genuinely thinks the nicknames he and his friends have are a secret the entire school isn't aware of. "What I don't know is why you're hassling us. I haven't seen him all day."

"But- but you just said," James splutters, confusing himself and the girls more with every word he speaks. "If you know Padfoot is Sirius, but you don't think Sirius is sitting right in front of you, then who do you think this dog is?!"

"What are you rambling about? This is Butter."

"Butter," James repeats slowly, the realization that she truly has no idea about their illegal secret suddenly dawning on him. "Right, well, if you could just let me take Butter-"

"Absolutely not."

"Brilliant- wait!" James pauses midsentence, a headache forming with how many turns this conversation has already taken. "Why not?"

"You could have seriously hurt him with whatever that stupid plan of yours was!" Emaline argues. "Tell me who his owners are and I'll make sure he gets home safely, since you can't be trusted with him."

"But he agreed to it!" James snaps indignantly.

"You expect me to believe a dog gave you consent?"

"He's really smart?"

"That was convincing," she remarks dryly.

"Really?"

"No!"