Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. More's the pity.
"Potter! What are you … is that a dog?!" Lily asked in shock, rounding the corner of the castle.
James, for once, actually looked embarrassed at having been caught. Though what Lily had caught him at, she wasn't quite sure. Beyond him being out after curfew that is, but really that was such a common occurrence that it barely merited notice.
"Er … hi, Lily," James said. He was trying to stand in front of the black mongrel, but it was rather a futile effort given the size of the beast.
Lily looked bemusedly at James. To be honest, his reaction had quite thrown her off; she wasn't used to him not having something outrageous to say. The dog, for its part, had padded out from behind James and was now staring at Lily with its tongue lolling out. To cover her confusion, Lily knelt down and held out her hand for the dog to sniff, which it obligingly did so.
"It's sort of cute," Lily remarked to James, who was now running his hand through his hair distractedly. "But students aren't allowed to have pets this big at school. Where did it come from?"
"Sirius," James replied hurriedly. "It's his dog. We just snuck him in for a lark; I was going to return him tonight."
"Where is your partner in crime, anyway?" Lily was now scratching the dog's head, who seemed to be enjoying the attention.
James rolled his eyes heavenward as the dog flopped on his back and rolled around ecstatically as Lily rubbed his belly. "Busy," he said pointedly. "Probably out getting pawed by some girl."
"Very likely," Lily agreed distractedly. The dog suddenly flipped onto his haunches. After glancing back at James, he proceeded to lick Lily's face from chin to hairline with a very long, very wet tongue.
"Urrrgh," Lily shuddered as she stood up. James grabbed the dog by his ruff and dragged it backwards.
"Bad dog," James admonished, staring directly into the dog's eyes. The dog stared back, unperturbed.
James produced a handkerchief from within his robes and offered it to Lily. She took it begrudgingly. "The dog needs better manners," she informed James as she mopped the doggy slobber off her face.
"I tell him that all the time," James agreed. "Look, are you going to turn me in or not?"
Lily glanced down at the dog who was dividing its stare equally between the both of them. She sighed. "I guess not this time. Just don't let me catch you sneaking back in. I … hey!"
Lily was suddenly propelled forward by a sharp nudge in the small of her back. She stumbled, only to be caught by James. He grasped her waist and pulled her upright again. She, for her part, had instinctively grabbed his biceps, which, she was ashamed to have noticed, were nicely muscled.
"All right then?" James asked as he gazed into her eyes. Lily realized that he was close, much too close. She flexed her fingers into his arms and forgot to breathe for a moment as his hands encircled her waist.
"Fine," Lily said shortly. She pushed away from him. "Just stay away from me! And your little dog too!" she half-way shouted as she stalked off down the corridor.
"It's Sirius's dog," James said weakly, but she was already gone. "Oh, what are you laughing about?" He redirected his attention to Sirius who had transformed back and was now rocking in the corner with tears of laughter streaming down his face.
"If you could have seen your face …" Sirius gasped. He grabbed his stomach and was set off again.
James stalked over and smacked his head. "You …" he waved his finger threateningly.
"Roses," Sirius gasped again. "Roses and chamomile is what she smells like. And then when you caught her … and were gazing dramatically into her eyes …" Sirius clutched James' hand pseudo-romantically.
"Oh shut up." James shook his hand free irritably and rested his forehead against the cool stone of the wall. Frogs, he thought determinedly. Sirius was definitely going to be finding frogs in his bed for the next month. Looking over, he found that his "friend" had collapsed in helpless laughter again. And snakes, James amended.
A/N: This is the first part of a four-part story. Each chapter is more or less stand-alone. Please, please give me feedback. You can have your very own furry Sirius if you do.