Disclaimer: Don't own 'em... gettin' no money... have no money so sueing would be pointless
Authors note: This Fanfiction shows my complete disregard for the fifth and sixth books. A) Sirius didn't die, B) Harry is not this emo type kid, and C) the Sixth book was completely un-Harry Potter like. But yes this is set at the end of Harry's fifth year… because well… what happened didn't happen so nyah!
Sighing, as he listened to Dumbledore drone on about what the evils in their world were doing at that moment, Remus was more concerned with the heavy weight that was currently resting on his feet. Sure, he was catching glimpses of what Voldemort and his goons were doing but it wasn't anything he hadn't heard at the last meeting, or the one before that for a fact. No, he was more concerned with the fact that Sirius had been sulking as Padfoot for two weeks and wouldn't even come out when Remus had stooped to the level of begging from the stubborn mutt.
He had gone out one day with Dumbledore and the others to do something and when he had gotten home Sirius had been lying on the couch as Padfoot. That hadn't concerned him at first; Sirius often went into Padfoot mode when he didn't get to go places, but would come out as soon as Remus came home. This time Sirius had sulked longer than usual, and after three days of Padfoot skulking around the house, Remus began to get concerned. He had apologized, begged, and about anything else he could think of to get Sirius to come out and talk to him. No, Padfoot usually just would wander off without a second glance. Remus had given obsessing over trying to get Sirius and figured if he wanted to talk he would get out of the Padfoot and talk to him.
Remus looked up to see Dumbledore and McGonagall were making no move to leave as the other members of the order were getting up. He knew this either meant they wanted to talk to him about Sirius or Harry--or both, as the case was more often than not. Sirius must have noticed this as well, because Padfoot skulked out from under the table. Padfoot had changed after Lucius and his son had discovered what he looked like. Now, Padfoot looked like a Newfoundland with a Siberian husky's markings.
"A word, Remus?" Dumbledore asked, looking down at Sirius as well.
"Sure." Remus nodded before absentmindedly reaching down to scratch behind Padfoot's ear.
"May I ask why?" McGonagall asked, pointing towards Padfoot, whose head was now resting on Remus's leg.
"I'm not sure, actually. He just was Padfoot one minute and refuses to come out and talk to me," Remus answered, swatting at Padfoot's back softly.
"Did you tell our dear friend?" Dumbledore asked, that damn twinkle in his eye, as if he found Sirius being a prat funny.
"No, I didn't want to get his hopes up if it fell through," Remus answered truthfully. At this Padfoot was looking between the two men in a confused manner.
"Well, everything is ready," Dumbledore said, causing Padfoot to look squarely at Remus.
"Alright… you want to know you dumb mutt?" Remus asked and was greeted by an enthusiastic wag of Padfoot's tail. "Well, do you remember the house my grandmother had? The one with the lake?" Once more Padfoot wagged his tail in agreement. "We put up barriers and defense spells around all the land and the house. We're going to move there… if you want," Remus finished.
Suddenly, as if someone had let go a windup string, Padfoot was bouncing around the kitchen barking madly. Remus couldn't help but smile at his friend's antics, knowing that if it were Sirius he probably would have turned into Padfoot just to do this.
"I think he would like to move," McGonagall acknowledged with a disturbed look on her face.
Once more with no warning at all, Padfoot stopped dead and wandered out of the room. Remus watched the door, wondering what the hell had gotten into his friend. He was beginning to wonder the long term effects of constantly staying in one's Animagus form. Just as he was about to get up and go and find Padfoot, the mutt came back into the room with something in his mouth. Remus looked down at Padfoot as he dropped a photo on his lap and started whining and nuzzling at it. Picking it up, Remus couldn't help but smile; it was a photo of Harry from Christmas.
"Sirius would like to know if we'll be getting Harry this summer," Remus asked for his friend, whose tail was once more wagging insanely.
"Of course. We're shortening his stay at the Dursleys' for only a day. You can have him twenty-four hours after he steps into the Dursleys' house, " Dumbledore agreed before looking to Sirius. "You can even go with Remus if you'd like."
After Remus had said good-bye to Dumbledore and McGonagall, he sighed as he walked back only to find Sirius curled up on his end of the couch.
"I was hoping you would come out after finding we'd be moving and getting Harry," he said before sitting next to Padfoot. "You know I will need Sirius's help. After all Harry needs a room of his own in that house and I wanted to paint it but Sirius knows what Harry would like and right now I can't talk to him," Remus explained, hoping he could guilt Sirius into coming out.
Padfoot just simply looked up and thumped his tail against Remus's legs. Remus took this as a sign that Sirius did want to help, he just wouldn't come out now. "Alright. As long as you promise to come back after we move."
Remus sighed as he rummaged around the living room through the boxes of things he and Sirius wanted for the new house. He still hadn't found what he was looking for. He decided that for as long as Sirius decided to stay Padfoot, he would treat him as a dog. He knew that somewhere, as a gag gift from Harry, there was a spiked collar with a leash that bared the name Padfoot. He was going to leash the damn dog in hopes it would convince Sirius to behave and come out.
Yelping loudly after his hand came in contact with something hard and metallic, he pulled out the offending object only to realize he had found what he was looking for. Now, he had to find Padfoot before Dumbledore came to tell them they could leave. Holding the leash behind his back, he looked around the house before finding Padfoot curled up in a patch of sun in his old bedroom. He knew Sirius could sense him, but he probably thought Remus was coming to try to talk him out. Remus instead advanced on his friend and quickly managed to link the collar around Padfoot's neck before the dog realized what was going on. Remus couldn't suppress a laugh at the alarmed look on Padfoot's face as he realized Remus had just put a collar on him.
"You want to be Padfoot? Well then you need a leash until we get to the new house," Remus explained before clicking the leash onto the collar.
Sirius immediately began to pull and bite at the leather restraint, whining loudly. Remus just sat on the bed and watched Sirius struggle. "If you want I'll go get a muzzle to stop you from biting" was all he had to say and suddenly Padfoot was lying obediently at his feet.
The ride to the new house was amusing to say the least. Sirius's leash was tied to the back of the headrest in the old car Remus drove. They couldn't Floo because of Sirius's escapee status. But once they got to the house and inside, Padfoot was jumping around madly trying to pull off the collar. Remus just stood holding the leash. Then, as if a light clicked on in the dumb dog's head, Sirius was standing in front of him, the collar still around his neck but loosened considerable. The image must have looked rather kinky, the leash still in Remus's hand.
"Can I take this off now?" Sirius asked, his voice a little hoarse from barking and not speaking for a good three weeks.
"I find your predicament rather enjoyable," Remus said with a laugh, tugging on the leash.
"Fine," Sirius said before stepping forward, suddenly and ferociously Sirius's mouth was smothering Remus's.
Remus was the first to step back; the need for air became too important and triumphed over three weeks of being celibate. Of course, the smell wafting off Sirius was not something he could easily ignore. "Eugh… you need a shower," Remus said before pushing Sirius away as he tried to once more to kiss him. "Shower now… snog later," he said before unhooking the leash and pushing Sirius towards the stairs.