GOOD DOG || Sirius Black

(Forty Seven: Padfoot Returns)

Contrary to what you might have been led to believe, this is not the story of Alex Fawley (Wouldn't you like to know).

This is, in fact, my story. By 'me' I mean your omniscient narrator, who you may better know as the New Girl, Loki, Moriarty or that-thing-that-happened-when-Snape-turned-out-to-be-a-dick.

Oh yeah. I've been here the whole time. The. Whole. Time. Whether I like it or not.

There's someone or something just like me in you as well, noble reader. Something that gets bored when ever feelings happen and tells you to throw your brand new phone off the Eiffel Tower and sits through the mediocre soap opera of your life with just enough pessimism and sarcastic comments to get by.

Yeah. That's me. Hello.

All truth be told, this story that I've been weaving is about as tedious and soap opera-y as it gets. But in order for my tale to emerge, it must be told.

Sirius Black was eventually released from his temporary imprisonment, informed of the situation and promptly sedated to prevent any further property damage. When he did come to, however, it was the strange normalcy of how he felt that shook him the most. There was no hole, ever growing, knawing away at his chest, there was no anger or pain or even really surprise.

He was still, despite his best intentions, irrevocably himself.

The boy wandered through the halls of the compound trying to find his way into a daze, because it would be easier than being stuck in the swirl of thoughts and memories that his real mind presented. At some point he caught sight of Logan and Micah trying to look like they didn't know each other as they settled in to fall asleep in some uncomfortable metal chairs, and briefly wondered why Remus wasn't with them. This problem occupied him for all the time it took Sirius to realise:

The full moon was tonight.

And his paws hit the ground as he let out the dog with a feeling of intense relief. His dog's brain didn't quite work like his own, saw things more literally, logically. It was all easier. He only saw what he had to do, rather than all the things that had got him to this point. 

He only made one stoop.

Not-Alex's cell opened from the outside, almost at the touch of his snout.

The girl inside (Sirius had no idea if the thing inside Alex was a girl or not) looked up at his arrival. She had been sat at the metal interrogation table, frowning with intense concentration at the semi-reflective material. Now her eyebrows raised at the peculiar sight of the large black dog, something like a Rottweiler crossed with something tougher and meaner, carrying a plastic Tesco bag full of stuff in his mouth.

"Well," She cocked her head at him, not even attempting to stop the door as it swung closed once more, "Not exactly what I was expecting. I'd run now, little pooch, before you're locked in here with a monster."

Sirius just flopped down to the floor.

New seemed to amend her earlier statement by herself, "Then again, I suppose you already are."

The dog didn't bother trying to indicate a response. He had no idea how long it was until the sun set, and he didn't know if the wolf would still be the same. Some part of him was curious, it would be interesting to see if the creature that emerged on a full moon was just an extension of Alex's personality, or whether it was a separate entity altogether. The rest of him was disappointed in that part for showing any interest in New at all.

"I know what tonight is, you know." New said conversationally. She swung her legs up onto the table and stretched out, "It's me."

Sirius huffed in a noncommittal way.