Disclaimer: None of it's mine. Well, OK, the text and general… Stuff is mine, but characters, basic ideas, places, EVERYTHING OTHER THAN THE FILTH, is JK Rowlings.

Author's Notes: Written for R/S Games 2009. Team: Canon; prompt: Indigo.

"Well," said James Potter, frowning slightly, "he's certainly a lot less annoying this way. Talks a lot less. We're better off all round, when you think about it."

Remus stared at his bespectacled friend incredulously. "James?"

"Yes, Remus, old chap?"

"One of our best friends- stop sniggering Peter- one of our best friends is now a rather large, slobbering, and –ouch, get off Padfoot- energetic black dog."

"It's taken you this long to notice? And after all the trouble we went to…"

"Oh shush, you know what I mean. He's stuck. As a dog. For the next seven days. You know, James, you pair have really got to learn to hold your tongues. You know fully well that Lucius Malfoy is-"

"A big prick with no sense of humour?" Peter interjected.

Remus glowered at the younger boy, hands on his hips. "Be that as it may, Peter, he is also a big prick with no conscience. You all know he has no qualms about making other people's lives miserable, you shouldn't have provoked him, James."

"Moony, old man, I really think you're making far too big a deal out of this. Sirius loves being a dog. Look at him, rolling about in the mud, sniffing Peter's crotch… He's perfectly happy."

"Where's he going to stay, I should like to know?"

"Did that last curse knock you a bit funny, mate? He's been staying at mine since the summer started, he can stay with me as usual. Honestly, I think you're going a bit-"

"And what about your mother, hmm?"

"My mother? She loves him. Fancies him a bit, I reckon. Only the other day she was saying just how much she-"

"She's allergic to dogs, James."

"Ah."

"Yes. Ah."

"Well, how about Peter-"

"Don't look at me; my mother thinks you lot are a bad influence. She wouldn't hear of it," Peter spluttered as he wrestled the large black canine in question, who had by now knocked him to the floor and was taking great delight in covering Peter's face in great slobbery licks.
"Well, there you have it then." James grinned wickedly at Remus, who clocked the expression and began protesting in earnest.

"Oh no. No, I can't- You know I can't possibly- James, no!" Remus spluttered as his friend forced the leash that he'd lazily conjured only a few moments before into his protesting hands. Yet his body seemed to be a confusion of mixed signals and refused to properly respond to his brain's commands; the very hands that he held up in objection were also responsible for the rebellious digits which closed happily around the red canvas leash being thrust upon him.

"There. Settled." James looked thoroughly pleased with himself.

"Get off. Padfoot, get off me now. Go on, shoo."

And at this, the dog finally ceased attempting to jump upon Remus with such unexpected resignation that the tawny-haired boy looked up from his tea-stained book in surprise. "Padfoot?" A slight whimper escaped the dog's slobbering mouth and Remus knew he was beat. "That's not fair; you can't possibly be able to do that awful pleading thing with your eyes that always gets me when you're not even in human form. Can you?" The dog stared mournfully back at him in response. "OK, you can. You've got me. Seriously, I've been charmed by a dog. Must worry about my mental health at some point, when I've got some free time. Until then… I don't know… walkies?"

Immediately, the vigour which had previously been dominating his canine friend returned. Sirius bounded up onto Remus' lap, knocking his mug of tea clean out of his hand and spilling what small contents was left in there onto the threadbare carpet.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Padfoot!" Remus sighed in well-rehearsed despair, but was grinning down at his hairy best friend, unexpectedly thankful for the company.

The pair painted a lonely picture upon the hillside a short distance from Remus' shabby rented accommodation. The isolated setting, he had to admit, was a swaying factor when choosing the property he now called his own; rented from a rather eccentric old warlock it may be, but it was a space for him and him alone. Just far enough from the town so that his friends could easily visit, but far enough that he could still find the peace and quiet he had become so used to enjoying. If it hadn't been for the persistence of three young Gryffindor boys, Remus was sure that being a mute hermit would have eventually become second nature to him. Being alone and thinking were just so much easier than socialising and talking. There was less to worry about.

This was something new entirely. Remus had never really seen the appeal of a pet; animals were not overly fond of him and so the thought hadn't really entered his mind. It was hard to forget that the large animal frolicking in the fields alongside him was actually one of his best friends, mainly because it was so unusual for Remus to be able to get this close to an animal without it making a swift exit as soon as it caught his less than human scent. Still, Remus found himself throwing sticks with unexpected gusto and Sirius would respond in such a dog-like manner that the illusion of dog and his master would have deceived any onlooker.

"You know, Padders," said Remus as he absentmindedly toyed with the thick black dog hairs that covered his best friend's head, "it's felt very odd sending you to that tatty old dog bed that James found these past few nights, when I know you're used to that grand old poster bed back at yours… It's based entirely on the mere illusion that you're a great galloping canine now. I mean, you know and I know that it's only an illusion. You and I know that you're as close to being human as a dog can get. It's funny how people treat you when you look different on the outside, isn't it?"

He glanced down at Sirius. A pair of black eyes stared intently back at him; eyes that were framed heavily by the hair which Remus, after a few days of living with a dog, had grown accustomed to finding all over the furniture, his clothes, and pretty much anything that he'd prefer was kept clean.

He hesitated slightly but decided to carry on, somewhat encouraged by the predicament his friend was in; how often could you ramble on about anything you fancied without someone interrupting you? Remus figured that if Sirius got really bored with him, there were still a good many ways in which he could demonstrate his feelings. It was just nice not having to worry that being laughed at or being asked awkward questions were any of them. Of course, there was nothing to stop Sirius leaping upon Remus with such force that all the wind was knocked out of him.

"I mean, I suppose you know all about that, don't you? With your family, I mean. You're instantly recognisable. People know your surname without having to ask. But they don't know what I know, what me and the others have always known, that you're, you know, a pretty decent guy when it comes to it. They can't know that from the outside. More than pretty decent, you're my best mate, Pad. You guys, all of you, you did what I never thought one person would, never mind three all at once; you accepted me without the bat of an eyelid."

He paused. The silence was peaceful; he wasn't sure Sirius would have said anything if he could have. Remus knew that the friendship of the three boys he had lived day in day out with for the past seven years was unconditional, and that he'd expressed his gratitude for their acceptance of his lycanthropy enough times that they no longer had to tell him: they didn't care. He was Remus, and that was that. Even so, could he ask anything more of them, after all they had done already?

The silence was peaceful. Perhaps it was best it stayed that way, Remus reflected.

The room was dark and silent. There was nothing particularly odd about this, thought Remus, as rooms are known for their silent darkness in the middle of the night. But something, something about the room, was definitely odd. It had taken him a night or two to grow accustomed to sleeping in a room with another person; the snuffling and breathing wasn't so close that it disturbed him, but even in the basket in the corner it was noticeable. But now, on the sixth and final night, Remus was perfectly adjusted to the sound of Sirius' snuffles and movements in the night. No, it was definitely something else. A stab of numbness rushed down his leg. Remus yelped and attempted to give his body a good shake out, but with no luck; there was a massive weight slung across his lower limbs.

"Hang on… Sirius?"

The large something at the end of the bed made an unmistakably doggy sound.

"Sirius, get off my legs!"

The dog, Sirius, sleepily opened his hair-surrounded eyes. Clocking the look of discomfort on Remus' face, he rolled over lazily and allowed the boy's numb legs to go free.

"So… You're just going to lie on my bed with me anyway?"

In reply, Sirius yawned and shut his eyes again.

"Well. It is quite a nice bed, I suppose. And, well. It's not like I mind. It's quite reassuring, if anything. Oh God, a werewolf who needs a dog at the bottom of his bed to reassure him? Clearly I need sleep."

That morning, on the seventh day, Remus was awoken yet again by the sense that something was different in his bedroom. Or, more specifically, in his bed. When he opened his eyes warily, he found that it wasn't anything odd or out of place in the slightest.

"Morning Moony. Mind if I stay here a while?" Sirius grinned cheekily.