ME AND SNUFFLES

The night was cold and Sirius black cursed continuously under his breath as he snuck his way out of the castle. And when he was in one of his foul moods, nobody was spared his generous vocabulary except probably Remus who was still recovering from yesterday's full moon. So he started with cursing James into the next century for forgetting his invisibility cloak in the shrieking shack, and then he cursed James back into this century for ending up in detention and from there his focus shifted to Evans who was so liberal in dishing out punishments that he decided that the person who made her a prefect was as foolish as his mother and her pure blood ideals. Now that his family had come up, the cursing became more fluent stopping only when he transformed after having reached the front doors.

Now a glossy black dog in the size of a grim padded across the grounds, slightly more happy now that there was a layer of thick fur protecting him from the cold. The night was silent and beautiful and almost picturesque making Sirius decide to stay outside a while until James wondered what was taking him so long and followed him out. They could go down that strange passage way they had found in hogsmedge last night, Sirius mused. Completely consumed by his happy thoughts the dog wandered aimlessly through the night until he heard a strangled sob.

Sirius looked around the grounds, spotting no one, yet he was sure that his sharp ears couldn't be wrong. He padded a few feet north when he heard the sob again, this time more certain of the direction, he followed the sound. It led him to the very edge of the forbidden forest where a small boy sat alone, hugging himself. What the hell was a kid doing out here in the middle of the night? Especially so close to the forest. There were unknown dangers lurking there, heck there could have been a werewolf if he was one night early and the kid was only a second or third year by the looks.

He was wondering exactly what to do when the boy's sobs reached sirius's sensitive ear and on instinct he moved closer. When he was a couple of feet away from the boy the dog froze, sitting in front of him on the hard ground was Regulus! Heck his own little brother? In tears and out alone after curfew? Sirius was surprised, not only at the fact that his perfect brother had broken a rule and was out after hours but at himself. Right then, looking at reg, he couldn't bring himself to resent the boy, or even feel disappointed in him. Suddenly he wasn't just some Slytherin, he was his baby brother again and Sirius did not like to see him looking scared and tearful. Idiot! He thought 'why can't you grow up and stop being the cry baby?'

Unsure of how Regulus would react and not knowing what else to do Sirius moved closer to him. The Slytherin jumped a foot in the air and cried out in surprise making Sirius smug, even after all this time it was still fun to sneak up on his brother. He shook his tail happily at the boy and watched reg look at him with wide eyes. Slowly the kid reached out to pet his soft fur and as awkward as it was for Sirius, he stayed there.

"My brother would love you" Regulus told the surprised dog. Those were the last words he had expected from his baby brother and he watched his face closely as the boy rubbed him behind his ears "he always had a weird fascination for grims you know?" Regulus continued all his tears forgotten.

Sirius was wondering if there was anyway for a dog to pinch itself. All this felt surreal and very dream like to him. The boy before him was nothing like the cold and haughty Slytherin that sneered at him in the school corridors. Shaking his big black head Sirius tried to clear his thoughts and found that reg was intrigued.

"Who do you belong to? How did you get into Hogwarts?" he asked the dog, his voice soft and innocent. He sounded for once like the thirteen year old that he was. Sirius unable to answer and clueless as ever settled to nuzzling his brothers palm that was currently rubbing his nose. Can life get weirder? Sirius wondered warily. Regulus sighed, sitting down again and guiding the dog to do the same.

Once Sirius was lying on the floor next to his brother, he noted for the first time that the boy was shivering from the cold and was dressed in the most brainless way. Damn! dogs couldn't even sigh; he thought as he moved closer to reg. the boy looked surprised but was grateful for the warmth and huddled in closer.

"You must be the most intelligent of your species, not that I've seen too many dogs before" Regulus said still rubbing him.

"Happy realization brother and you must be the stupidest of your kind for taking so long to catch up to that fact" Sirius thought dryly

The younger black had fallen silent and was now looking up at the night sky. The silence seemed oddly comfortable and sirius's mind returned to wondering exactly what it was that had brought his brother outside at this time of the night.

"It's a clear night" Regulus murmured pulling Sirius back from his train of thought. As the black heir watched his brother closely the younger boy sighed. "I can't believe I'm talking to a dog…" Sirius suddenly disgruntled let a slight growl escape him and now Regulus looked at him, more surprised than before. Their faces were inches away from each others and Sirius simply could not resist the urge to lick the younger black. "ewwww" Regulus said sounding like a girl as he pulled back. "Bad dog" he admonished making Sirius want to roll his eyes, instead he settled for a whine, Causing Regulus to instantly scratch him behind the ears again. I should get moony to do this Sirius thought from his current paradise. He looked at the boy before him, looking carefree, before closing his eyes.

Content and happy that he had stopped his brothers tears Sirius lay there for a long time, letting himself be petted. Time passed unnoticed by either black until Regulus suddenly stood up. "its getting late, I really should be going back" he said and then as if unable to resist, he got down on one knee, "tell you what, I'll come back tomorrow and I'll even bring you food, okay?" he said before standing up again. Sirius was completely taken aback; he had so totally not seen that one coming. Talk about out of the blue! Regulus had given him one last pat before starting back towards the castle. Unthinking the dog too followed, only to be admonished by Regulus to stay outside.

Sirius watched his brother make his way back to the castle and stood there for several moments before realizing what he had originally come for and wondering why prongs hadn't come out after him, Sirius went to the shack, found the cloak and returned back to his tower. James had crashed for the night without even changing and Sirius followed suit.

The next day saw moony returning from the hospital wing and the four marauders were back in action, setting up a previously forgotten prank. But Sirius watched his brother more closely through the day and the couple of times that he caught sight of the younger black, he saw the boy looking out through different windows towards the forbidden forest. "Sweet Merlin" Sirius muttered as Remus dragged him to class. James shot him an enquiring look but Sirius shook his head and left it there.

Later that night Sirius made his way out towards the forbidden forest and roamed around for a while before deciding to return to the castle, relieved that his brother wasn't out looking for him. Just as he started for the castle he saw a lone figure approaching him with something in his hand. Regulus's face lit up when he saw the dog and he hurried to it. He then set down the food he was carrying and Sirius all but groaned. He was already filled up with the mashed potatoes that he had so greedily hogged for dinner that night.

"Go on eat it" Regulus said patting him gently and not finding another way out Sirius began to eat all the while cursing himself.

"You are one hungry dog aren't you?" reg crooned and Sirius was sure that every hair on his neck would have stood up if he had been human. "I wonder who feeds you through the day, but you don't seem to belong to anyone….but it doesn't matter, I'll bring you food every night" Regulus continued. Sirius choked. Every night? What had he gotten himself into? Oblivious Regulus continued to happily stroke his pet.

While Sirius was torn between berating himself and trying to not notice how happy he made his little brother he heard Regulus speak again "you need a name you know" Sirius would have bolted if his legs weren't currently frozen.

"I was thinking up a few names in transfiguration class today" reg continued just as Sirius thought and mother tells me to try be more like you and listen to classes? Dog names? I waste my time better than that.

"And I thought of star names, but I don't think they name dogs after stars" no, but I'm named after the dog star if you must know…..wonder if that was a coincidence?

"so I thought I would pick something that would go along black, then again mom would go berserk if she found out that I gave a dog the same last name as our honorable family, though my brother would probably fall over with laughter at that" reg continued but

Sirius did not feel like laughing at all, he felt like fleeing. "But in the end I came up with the perfect name for you" the boy said excitedly and turning to hold the dogs head and looking at it, he said "how does snuffles sound?" Sirius tilted his head, trying to figure out if his brother was still sane.

'Snuffles? You have got to be kidding me! For the sake of all my love for Gryffindor, this has to be some sort of joke!'

"Good, I suppose that means you like it!" Regulus said happily, his face glowing.

'No no no! Hell no! Dogs wag their tail when they like something you idiot! Not tilt their head! No!' Sirius's mental tirade came to an instant stop when he saw how truly happy this was making his brother.

The last time he had seen reg so happy was exactly five years back, before he had become sorted into Gryffindor and Andy had run away and both of them and their three cousins still played together. He gave up then. If he had to be snuffles to make his brother happy then he would just have to endure it. So he wagged his tail and circled around Regulus twice before flopping back down.

Regulus laughed lightly and crooned some more, but over time the smile began to slip from his face and Sirius was reminded why his brother was out here in the first place. He got up, pushed reg to the floor and literally stood on his chest, trying to ask him what was wrong. Reg seemed to have caught on and he gently got the dog off his chest as he sat up,

"Why don't we walk around a bit?" Regulus asked as he got up. Sirius followed suit and watched his brother. As they quietly made their way through the grounds, Regulus came to a sudden halt. He was looking up at the sky and Sirius looked up too, forgetting that it was not the most dog like thing to do.

Regulus looked down and finding snuffles also looking up at the sky, he knelt down "those are my family stars you know, that is Andy, then Bella, then cissy, siri and me" he told the dog. "Pretty isn't it? They all shine so brightly together…" Regulus continued and Sirius felt a knot forming in his stomach. "All last year me and cissy used to come out and watch them, that's the one place where the five of us are still together you know" the younger boy's voice softened and Sirius was more all the more uncomfortable for it. "but I know it will never be like that again, Andy will never come back, Bella is changing, cissy has no hope for the five of us, siri is lost and I don't know" Sirius was looking at his brother unable to put his emotions into words and for once glad that dogs couldn't speak.

"Have you ever heard of older brother's hating their younger siblings?" Regulus asked the dog conversationally. "I try you know, I try to live up to his expectations but nothing I do is ever good enough for him. He thinks I'm a screwed up Slytherin but I can't help it, how did he expect me to become a Gryffindor after watching him be tortured so much? I had no choice but to beg the sorting hat to put me in Slytherin instead. It said I'll regret my choice and now I do….." Regulus trailed off, and all Sirius could do was watch in shock.

Unknown to him his tail had gone down and his ears had drooped and Regulus noticed. "I know it's sad, but its okay, Sirius is happy where he is, so are Andy and Bella, cissy is better with lucius at her side and I'll just have to cope" the dog whined and nudged his brother slightly, it was the best he could do except wallow in guilt but his brother seemed grateful. "Thanks snuffles. It's just nice to have someone to talk to…." The boy said smiling slightly before getting licked again "and get licked I suppose" he continued with a sigh. Then he sat down next to snuffles cuddling in. Sirius felt the warm breath tickle his skin and was reminded of stormy nights, when reg would cuddle up to him exactly like this, too scared to sleep alone.

He watched for a long time as the younger boy slept peacefully at his side, but try as he may, he could not sleep. 'Andy… Bella… cissy… siri… reg' the words kept coming back to him. He simply stayed still and watched his brother all night until the sun finally came up. He shook himself enough for the boy to be startled out of his sleep and when reg woke up, he seemed surprised that he had spent the entire night out. He looked at snuffles with warmth "did you stay that way all night?" he asked before kneeling next to the dog and hugging it. "no one has done that for me except my brother, thank you" he said before making his way back to the castle.

Sirius watched as his brother disappeared through the front doors before deciding that he needed to clear his head. He broke into a full out sprint all the way to hogsmedge before returning an hour later to his dorm. Remus, already awake, despite the fact that it was only six raised eyebrows at Sirius, taking in his dishelved form, but asked nothing, assuming instead that it must have been one hell of a girl to keep Sirius there all night.

Having fallen into bed, exhausted, he woke up after an hour of fitful slumber only to rush down to breakfast with James, late as usual. Just as he walked in, he saw Regulus, leaving the great hall looking definitely happier. At least it was worth something, he thought as he rushed through his eggs and toast only to be dragged away halfway through by a very persistent moony.

Once in class, Sirius's spirits dropped. He had passed his brother in the corridor and the boy had been looking out the window again. Why is it that I see him wherever I go now? Sirius wondered, positive that they did not cross paths this often everyday. He found himself unable to focus on James's next mind blowing idea to get back at Snape. His thoughts were centered around his brother. Having returned to his human form meant his head had more thinking space and all of it was currently occupied by the conversation from the previous night.

He never really stopped to think of what he had left behind. He didn't usually like to dwell on the past or bother about the future. But now that he did, the past seemed to consume him entirely. Flashes of Andy and Bella spinning around, cissy sitting on the bed with her precious dolls and him teaching reg to play wizards chess haunted his mind along with images of all of them playing tag or even dancing together. He held an image of Regulus from last night in his head. While Sirius himself had never been one to hold on to what had happened, Regulus was just the opposite. He never forgot, never let go and even when they had little squabbles, it was always reg who sulked or in his case, cried longer and when they got a new toy, he stayed happy longer than Sirius ever managed.

He remembered when Bella used to scold him and the boy used to some running to him, or when his mother admonished him and Regulus used to wait silently for sirius to come make him feel better. he suddenly remembered how much reg had depended on him…..it made him guiltier and the word hate swiveled around his head. Did he really think I could hate him? Could I ever hate him? Sure I was disappointed when he didn't join me in Gryffindor but I didn't hate him. And he does have a point, how could I expect him to be in Gryffindor after watching mother?

Sirius sighed for the umpteenth time that hour and both Remus and James were shooting him sidelong glances. He steadily ignored them and his teachers all through the day, snapping out of it only after McGonagall promised to give him detention that night if he did not listen to class. He also begged professor flitwick to switch his previously acquired detention to lunch time so that his evening would remain free. James and Remus were definitely curious but he simply told them about a random broom cupboard and a blond before managing to make his way out of the castle, this time without dinner. He caught sight of Regulus, already on the grounds and wondered why on earth he was bothering himself so much before transforming in the dark and bounding towards the boy. The smile that lit up on the handsome little face was answer enough to Sirius's question as he pushed the boy to the ground and began licking him.

"Mr. BLACK!" professor McGonagall's voice rang through the classroom, her lips set into a thin line, and her eyes flashing as she towered above the sleeping boy. Sirius woke up, startled, it had been five nights since he had begun sneaking out to meet Regulus, which meant that he had not had any sleep and the fact that it was his OWL year did not help.

"30 points from Gryffindor!" He heard her say and his eyes widened in disbelief.

"30? From your own house?" he asked incredulously, his sleep induced state causing him to say the first thing on his mind, making her angrier.

"Yes Mr. Black and that's 50 points you have lost the house in the past hour" she snapped back at him. She saw him arch one perfect eyebrow before continuing to speak. "10 for not handing in your assignment, 10 for coming late to class, and 30 for daring to sleep in my class for the second time this week; now if you would leave my class room without further disruption, you will save another 10 house points" she said, seeming very cross indeed. He looked at her imperial figure once before getting up and walking out of class without another word.

James and Remus were worried to say the least and when the hour ended, they rushed to find their fellow marauder with peter tagging along. After looking in the great hall and the common room, they headed back to the dorms where they found Sirius fast asleep.

"He's sleeping?" Remus asked, half incredulous and half disbelieving. By his side, James's mouth hung comically lose.

"Maybe we shouldn't disturb him" peter said quietly from behind the two boys.

"Of course we shouldn't peter after all Merlin knows that things are just going to explain themselves" James muttered. His concern for his best mate making him edgy. He moved across the room, throwing himself at Sirius's bed.

He shook the sleeping boy awake none too gently and watched Sirius sit up groggily.

"Alright padfoot spill it" James said, working hard to look stern. Sirius looked honestly confused as he gazed at his three friends one after the other.

"What are you on about prongs?" Sirius asked, trying hard to blink his sleep away.

"He's referring to you skipping dinners-" Remus began

"Oh come on moony, I knew you whined about missing classes but dinners? Really mate?" Sirius asked, rolling his eyes for the effect as he tried to dodge the topic.

"Dinners and you haven't been sleeping in days and you hardly pay attention to classes, not that that's new but we might get that settled with the rest…" Remus continued, like Sirius hadn't spoken.

"And we know it's not any of the usual three reasons mate" James added complacently. Remus raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Blondes, brunettes and redheads" James answered with a look that clearly stated that for all his brains Remus could be pretty stupid. Sirius who on more normal days would have added something witty barely registered his surroundings as he racked his brains to find himself an excuse.

"Mate we are really worried you know" James said startling Sirius into the present.

"Yeah what ever is wrong we'll help…" Remus added to which James nodded solemnly and peter jerked his head.

Wrong? Was something really wrong though? Sirius asked himself. He knew he couldn't go on being reg's pet and he couldn't tell him the truth and it would hurt the boy if he just vanished but what choice did he have? Okay so things were wrong he concluded. He saw James starting to become impatient and Remus's scrutiny increase by a manifold so held up his hand, gesturing for a moment before racking his brain one last time. When he saw no way out though, he gave up with a sigh and began his tale.

When he was done, he saw three pairs of jaws hanging wide open as his fellow marauders stared at him disbelievingly. Remus, the one who generally managed to keep his composure blinked rapidly, peter seemed …confused and James true to his reputation began to laugh.

"Very funny prongs" Sirius muttered annoyed

"It's actually kind of cute" peter said earning a glare from Sirius as James doubled over with laughter.

"But this can't go on" Remus said, easily spotting the problem. Ah! Bless him. Sirius thought, grateful that at least one of them was being sensible.

"Why not? Maybe Regulus will even get him a cute collar?" James asked and Sirius launched a pillow at his best mate.

It took a while but once James managed to stop laughing and Remus made them sit and think it over, Sirius was grateful he had told his best friends.

Reg was just rubbing the dog and leaning warmly on it when it suddenly perked up. Getting to its feet it bounded forward towards the castle. He had just smelt Remus coming his way and was grateful in a sad way.

"Snuffles!" Sirius heard his brother call and prayed he would follow. He literally jumped on Remus, pushing the skinny boy to the ground and circling him like any dog would when it saw its master after a few days. On his second circle he caught sight of Regulus who had come to a halt a few feet away. Remus too seemed to have noticed as he sat up on the ground. He rolled his eyes at Sirius for over doing it and quickly got up, brushing himself. Both marauders looked at Regulus again as the boy turned away and tried to slip away unnoticed.

"Regulus" Remus called out quickly, hoping the boy would stop. Sirius added a whine to make sure he turned as both of them moved towards the younger kid.

"Thanks for taking care of padfoot for me when I was sick" Remus said kindly and Sirius watched as his brother's barrier came up again. The boy shrugged his reply but Sirius did not miss the quick look his brother had thrown him. Apparently neither had Remus.

"though I would advise you not to wander so close to the forbidden forest this late in the night, at least to spare your brother another near heart failure." He said and Sirius shot his best friend a quizzical look. What was moony doing? And he did not get heart failures!

Regulus too seemed confused as he raised an eyebrow. "Sirius found you with padfoot on your first day here, he was supposed to take care of him for me but when he saw you had taken to it, he let you." Remus explained making the slytherin's eyes widen.

"Figures" the boy muttered to himself and it was Remus's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Nobody can be more irresponsible than my brother" Regulus said in his haughty Slytherin tones. Sirius was instantly disgruntled, damn that kid and his Slytherin-ness!

Remus studied him silently for a second before replying "as it happens, your brother had detention that night for sneaking in to see me in the hospital wing and I suppose you are planning to give me the real reason for that comment?" Regulus shifted his weight on another foot, there was something about lupin that was making him uncomfortable, and it was like the boy could see right through him. "I meant that it makes sense, there is no way my brothers dream pet would wander around Hogwarts without him having something to do with it" he said half heartedly, knowing he couldn't lie, not to this boy.

Remus smiled, the honesty was a lot to ask of the Slytherin and he truly appreciated it. "Actually your brother wanted to keep him, but your mother doesn't take too kindly to dogs does she?" Remus asked trying to get the younger boy to talk.

'Nope, definitely not, specially not this dog since she likes cruciating it so much' sirius thought wryly just as Regulus replied "nope but that like everything else is my stupid brother's stupid fault"

Remus shot the boy and the dog a look, this was getting interesting. "And why is it Sirius's fault?"

Sirius saw in his head the image of three little stray puppies that he had sneaked in during his second year and remembered his mother having stumbled across them quite literally and falling over. He willed himself not to think about what happened after that and returned to watching his brother. He could have sworn the younger boy had the faintest traces of a smile as he replied in slightly less haughty tones "ask him"

Remus planned to do exactly that but for now it was the younger black he had to talk to. "Anyways as I was saying, since your mother didn't allow dogs, he gifted padfoot to me"

He said, thinking it wasn't all that far from the truth, seeing that the glossy dog had become what it was to help him out. While he lost himself in pleasant thoughts, the younger black seemed to be having trouble retaining his curiosity.

"Why do you call him that?" Regulus asked, finding padfoot to be a weird name.

"He chose it" Remus answered unthinking before realizing his slip up and continuing hurriedly "I mean Sirius, he likes it…." Regulus looked at him for a second before rolling his eyes "trust him to come up with something that lame" the boy muttered and Sirius was wondering what dogs did when they felt like spanking someone.

"Do you have a better suggestion?" Remus asked Regulus colored up instantly, mentally cursing himself for even talking to the Gryffindor.

"I ….I call him snuffles" he answered and when Remus tried hard to keep a straight face the boy continued, suddenly more defensive "and just so you, that name was also my brilliant brother's invention, he came up with it when he was 6 because Andy's cat made sniffing sounds all the time" Remus burst out laughing and Regulus looked more embarrassed, as he tried to decide which was worse, telling lupin the name or the reason behind it. Sirius on the other hand was wishing he could bang himself, remembering for the first time that snuffles had indeed been his idea, he could deny it of course but somehow he knew that this was one lost battle.

Remus had recovered from his fit of laughter and was now trying to make it up to the highly flushed boy in front of him. "Don't worry, I'll never let Sirius live this down and you are quite right snuffles suits him better" moony said with a half glance in Sirius's direction. Oh moony was going to pay for it alright Sirius thought darkly as he began plotting ways to torture his best friend, a spell that would throw him out of the library every time he entered would do, he thought before returning his attention to his brother and best friend.

"Is there something else on your mind?" Remus was asking Regulus, his voice warm and friendly. Both brothers looked surprised, despite the fact that one of them was currently a dog. "You are a lot more like Sirius than I had imagined, but that's probably why pa-snuffles took to you in the first place" he explained on seeing the evident confusion.

Regulus tried to look offended as he said "I am nothing like him" but in reality he was flying. This was the first time anybody had said that he was like Sirius. Even in his younger days, Sirius and Bella were the similar once, fiery and hard willed. Lost in his thoughts, Regulus missed the quick exchange between the two marauders as Remus answered Sirius's look with a shake of his head.

"actually you are a lot like him, and I'm not talking about just looks, he fidgets exactly like that when he wants to ask something but his pride is standing in the way" Remus told the younger boy as Sirius realized in astonishment that Remus was right again. Regulus too was trying to disregard the fact before he gave in "why did siri let me keep snuffles?" he asked, the words flying out of his mouth.

"well, I guess for one thing he was really glad that it was snuffles that found you instead of something else and then you seemed so taken to him that he let you be" Remus answered thoughtfully.

Regulus tried to make some sense out of it; it wasn't the answer he was hoping for, though he didn't know what he had actually expected. "But you know, Sirius is quite possessive of padfoot, no one except us marauders have been allowed time with him….nobody else even knows about him" Remus said shrewdly, knowing exactly what it was that the boy needed. When he did not get the boy to respond, Remus tried hard to find a way to get his message through to the boy, somehow his conscience wouldn't let him rest in peace if he didn't help this boy stop believing that his brother hated him. Especially when it was so far from the truth.

Not knowing what else to do, Remus decided to trick the boy into telling him. "Though I think it's rather unfair that you hate your brother so much, specially when he cares for you so much" Remus said coolly and watched surprise cross regulus's face, before silent fury replaced it.

"You have no right to talk about things you know nothing about. Stay away from my family affairs" Regulus said his voice suddenly flat and cold.

"I believe I do know a little something about your family, seeing that your brother happens to be my best friend." Remus replied, unperturbed.

"You think you know him" Regulus said bitterly and Sirius was wondering where this was going. True there were a couple of things about him the marauders didn't know, but he was quite sure that his little brother of all the people in the world wouldn't let his family name down by talking about all that.

"Do you really believe otherwise?" Remus asked his voice still mild.

"I know otherwise" was the immediate reply and the bitterness in it had Remus back tracking and changing tactics.

"But I don't hate him." the werewolf said.

"And you think I do?" Regulus asked silently fuming.

"Sirius thinks you do" Remus replied. The dog beside him sat down, now understanding what his friend was really doing and letting him do it.

"What difference does it make what he thinks? He hates m-us" Regulus said, trying to cover his hurt.

"You don't know that" Remus stated and when Regulus looked at his skeptically he added "no matter what you are his kid brother and I think that would matter to him"

Regulus looked at his brothers best friend for a long minute before he shrugged "I don't care" he said ; turning and walking away, though not without another glance towards snuffles, his heart lifting to the skies. Sirius didn't hate him.

Once the boy disappeared into the castle, Remus turned to padfoot. The dog was looking at him gratefully, wagging its tail before launching itself at him.

Epilogue

Remus and Sirius left James to his devices as he begged lily to take him around muggle London and walked through the rattling carriages. Sirius who was halfway planning his escape from the most noble and ancient house of blacks that summer froze mid speech, a mad glint in his eyes. Remus who had walked right into Sirius looked surprised when he was dragged to the side. Before he could demand an explanation though he saw Sirius morph into padfoot and wag his tail eagerly as he pushed against the compartment door.

"Sirius what are you-" Remus began when he saw Regulus walk past them alone. Understanding dawned and Remus quickly pushed the door open and let padfoot bound out.

"Regulus!" he called, giving the boy a momentary warning. The surprised black turned around only to be instantly ploughed to the ground by the grim sized dog. The dog licked him eagerly and stood with its whole form heaving over the boy, its tail wagging frantically.

"Hey there" Regulus murmured, running his hands through the dogs silky fur as he let himself be assaulted by it. Remus watched silently for a good ten minutes before Regulus realized his presence.

"Looks like he has missed you" Remus said conversationally as he moved closer to the dog and the younger boy. Regulus looked surprised but definitely happy and for one short second, Remus could swear he saw every trace of Sirius in the boy.

"You're taking him home?" the younger black asked still refusing to take his eyes away from snuffles.

"yeah…" Remus replied quietly and he watched as Regulus leaned in closer to the dog and whispered something that sounded suspiciously like 'I'll miss you snuffles'

A few more licks and another round of pats later, Regulus knelt on the floor, giving the dog one last hug before righting himself, dusting his robes and walking away with a slight smile that did not miss padfoots notice as he watched the boy, his own eyes shining.

A/N : okay i know this was super long but i simply could not split it into chapters. they would have been too short if i had...and well if you aren't complaining...thank you, if you are let me know!

also temme if you want to know what happens when cissy meets snuffles uh padfoot i mean...

reviews appreciated!