September 27th, 1993

"Sirius!"

Sirius Black merely grinned coyly as he backed away from Nikki, holding her copy of Advanced Potions Making high above his head.

"That's my name, love."

Nikki folded her arms. "You're going to make me late to class. I need that book."

"And how hard would it be to skive off?" Sirius asked, leaning against the wall of her dorm room. "Didn't you go through part of sixth year twice?"

"Bloody hell," Nikki swore, groaning as she pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "I really need to get to class."

Sirius brought the book down, level with his face as he began to idly flip through it. "Hang on, this is the same book we used when Slughorn taught! How has nothing in potions advanced in... nearly two decades? Who's your professor anyway?"

Nikki pursed her lips, thinking. Sirius was going to lose his shit. "...You know him really well...?"

He snorted, the sound bearing no humor to it at all. "You do realize that all the guys I knew well are either dead, permanently in St. Mungo's, traitors, or the Defense professor this year, right?"

She swallowed anxiously. "I never said that you got along well with him..."

Sirius dropped the book, Nikki grabbing it and holding it up in a quick display of victory. "SNIVELLUS?!"

"Mhmmm, he's a dick," Nikki said simply, shoving the textbook into her satchel. She turned her back to Sirius as she mentally ran through the materials she needed for class.

Sirius groaned, rolling his eyes. "Of course he is."

He stepped closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her shoulder at the point where it aligned with her neck. "Don't go."

She froze. Fuck he was good at smooth talking and convincing her.

"I have school," she whispered, fighting the shiver that threatened to creep down her spine.

     Sirius nibbled at the skin by her collarbone. "Not the answer I was looking for, if I'm being honest."

     Nikki subconsciously tilted her head to the side so that he had better access.

     "Stay with me."

     "Sirius..."

     He huffed, burying his head in the crook of her neck. "Give me one good reason. For Merlin's sake I've been stuck here for nearly the last bloody month! I'm losing my shit, Coley."

     "Do I need to remind you that you're an escaped convict?"

     He raised his finger, pressing it gently against her lips. "Falsely accu-"

     Nikki spun around, resting her hands on his shoulders. "I know that, Sirius. But, right now, it doesn't matter if you're falsely accused or not - the Aurors are after you as if you aren't. And you can't be seen."

     "Oh, and what Aurors are looking for a dog?" Sirius scoffed. "I have a foolproof disguise, and I'm still trapped in this bloody room! It's like a five star version of Azkaban!"

     She frowned. "Don't make me the bad guy; I just don't want you getting caught for something stupid."

     His grey eyes blazed, a frustrated gleam in them. "What's stupid about feeling cooped up in a single room? Nobody knows about me being an Animagus except you, your twin brothers, and Moony. None of you are going to say anything!"

     Sirius wanted to scream. He had to get out of the room he had been stuck in for nearly a month, or he'd go insane. And he spent twelve years in Azkaban and didn't lose his mind then.

     He inhaled deeply, trying to control his flaring emotions. "...What classes do you have today?"

     Nikki raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Transfiguration, DADA, Potions, and History of Magic... why?"

His lips stretched into a smug smirk. "Minnie would be fine as long as..." he scrunched his nose as he forced out the nickname for his dog form, "...Scruffy doesn't disrupt class. Remus knows it's me. Snivellus... honestly, I don't give a shit what he thinks. And Binns, I could probably walk right into that classroom, pull off a strip tease, and he wouldn't notice."

Nikki wrapped her arms around her torso, thinking as she tried not to laugh at how he explained Binns' obliviousness. It would be risky...

"I don't know..."

His fingers curled around her hips, pulling her flush against him.

Nikki's breath hitched at the sudden movement.

"You know, we started something 16 years ago that got interrupted by James... if it's alright with you, of course... I'd like to pick back up where we left off..."

His thumb came up to her mouth, caressing her bottom lip and tracing it softly. Nikki was helpless to do anything but look up at him, caught in a trance.

Sirius dipped his head, capturing her lips with his own. Nikki stretched up on her tiptoes, fingers linking together behind his neck.

He wound his fingers in her ginger curls, tugging on the strands in his grasp to pull her head up.

Her eyes fluttered closed as she rose higher up on her toes, trying to muster every inch of height she could get.

Sirius pulled away slightly, resting his forehead against hers as he innocently asked, "So? Are you going to have a furry canine companion today?"

Nikki whined softly, craning her head into his touch. "You're awful."

"But effective methods?"

She blew out an exasperated breath. "...Don't do anything that would make me regret this."

"I think if I had to stay in your room for another day with only the deep cesspool of dark thoughts that is my mind for company, I would have done something that would grant the use of the words 'bad dog.'"

He shuddered over dramatically.

"We're going to have to get going, otherwise we'll really be late. And McGonagall would kill me," Nikki snorted, running her hand through her hair as she smiled slightly.

Sirius was on cloud nine as he left Nikki's dorm room, trotting at her side as his tail wagged rapidly.

"You make it so bloody difficult to say 'no' to you, you know that?" She murmured, scratching him behind his ears.

Sirius let out a pleased hum in the back of his throat, nudging at her hand with his head.

He knew. Who could say "no" to a face like his, both in dog form and human form?

It was a miracle he turned out as handsome as he did, Sirius mused, his mind idle. Especially with the rumors of incest that blackened the family tree.

"Be good," Nikki teased gently, her hand resting on the crown of his head.

They entered the Transfiguration classroom, Nikki sliding into her claimed seat next to her twin brother towards the front of the classroom.

'Always the front of the class...' Sirius thought.

"Where'd you get a dog?!" Percy whispered frantically to Nikki. "Dogs aren't allowed at Hogwarts!"

The dog curled up in a tight ball underneath Nikki's desk. He rested his snout on his front two paws, settling in for another Transfiguration lesson.

Honestly, he thought he was done with those!

"By the Forbidden Forest," Nikki muttered back. It was a white lie, but he couldn't know. Nobody could know other than Fred, George, and Remus. "He's a stray; his name is Scruffy. I couldn't let him starve to death, Perce, and he's really a well-behaved dog."

Sirius huffed at the pseudonym.

     "Rephrase, he's a good, well-behaved dog when he wants to be."

     "As long as your... furry companion... doesn't disrupt the class," Minerva McGonagall said, lips drawn in a firm line, "he will be allowed to stay."

Let it be known that Professor Minerva McGonagall was not a fool. The chances of her not finding out about three of her students in the last twenty years becoming Animagi when she was an Animagus herself were slim to none.

She didn't know whether to be proud that three fifteen year olds were able to complete the process or exasperated that said fifteen year olds became illegal Animagi.

Fact: Sirius Black was the dog.

     Fact: Sirius Black was barely able to sit still on a good day.

     Fact: Now she had to contain the frantic energy that practically burst out of him for her class period.

Professor McGonagall let out an imperceptible sigh as she took her place at the front of the class.

"Today, we are going to be working on transfiguring an inanimate object into an animate one, focusing on details and accuracy," she began to lecture, hands clasped behind her back.

She knew exactly how to keep Sirius from causing chaos. All eyes on him.

"Ms. Weasley, would you mind terribly if I used your dog as the model for today's lesson?"

Nikki flashed an innocent smile, one that had been used to backtrack her way out of trouble countless times. "Of course not, Professor."

     Out of the corner of her mouth, she whispered to Sirius, "Be good."

     He snuffled, butting his head against her leg gently. Unwinding out of his tight ball, he slinked out from under the desk and stood up on all four paws.

     "Awww, he's a darling," Penelope Clearwater said in an undertone to her friend sitting next to her.

     Sirius inwardly preened at the attention.

     McGonagall clicked her tongue, stretching her hand out to the dog.

     'Don't patronize me, Minnie,' Sirius thought dryly to himself.

     "Who's a good boy?"

     'Me! I'm the good boy! It's me!' The internal part of Sirius that was a canine jumped at the moniker. His tail wagged as he approached the professor.

     Waving her wand, Minerva McGonagall dragged a desk in the front row forwards, closer to her desk.

     Sirius jumped up onto the desk and sat down, looking expectantly at the elder woman.

     "I know it's you, Mr. Black," she whispered in a volume quiet enough where only Sirius heard her. "Behave yourself."

     His ears lowered sheepishly.

     Minerva McGonagall said nothing, studying the dog and then turning back to her desk. She tapped the ornate wood with the tip of her wand.

     There was a second dog in the place where the desk had been, in the same posture as the Animagus. Another tap of her wand transfigured the desk back into a desk.

     "The smallest details, in Transfiguration, could mean the difference between a successful spell or a failed one. And failed spells usually have... explosive side-effects."

     Transfiguration passed by in a blur, Sirius up at the front of the class. He felt like a model in one of those Muggle art classes Lily had tried to convince him and James into.

     After an instance involving clay, the studio's instructor, and an odd little switch on the wall, they weren't invited back.

     All the seventh years gave him pets and ear scratches after, too! For his first day out of Nikki's dorm room, it was off to a good start.

     Remus Lupin merely raised an eyebrow at the redheaded seventh year as she strode into his classroom with her ever present dark shadow by her side.

     "You try to say no to those puppy dog eyes," she muttered as she walked past him.

     Remus gave a slight, subtle eye roll at the mention of Sirius' puppy dog eyes. This would be one interesting day.

     "The Patronus," he began class with two simple words, sitting on the corner of his desk, "is a defense against dementors and lethifolds, an unexpected necessity this year. Your Patronus bears your soul, the deepest parts of yourself."

     Nikki wound her fingers in the thick fur on Scruffy's neck, scratching him lightly. He leaned into her touch.

     "It has been known that two people in deep, true love have matching Patronuses, ones that complement each other. I have seen it happen twice," Remus continued. "The incantation is Expecto Patronum, coupled with a wand movement of a small circle."

     He demonstrated the movement, arm swishing in a crisp circle. Remus Lupin faced his students, determined to help them defend themselves.

     "This is a particularly tricky spell, so don't be discouraged if you don't perfect it on the first go. However, I have full confidence in each and every one of you."

     His eyes flicked from student to student, encouraging them to keep trying.

     "We will be spending this lesson and next on the Patronus spell, followed by a foot-long essay on other defenses against dementors, lethifolds, and similar creatures due next Wednesday."

     The seventh years groaned in unison, not wanting any more homework than they already have.

     Remus snorted. "I'm giving you nine days. Seventh year is difficult, but keep yourself on schedule and portion your work load accordingly."

     "He's the best DADA professor we've had," Nikki noted under her breath to the dog sprawled out on the floor under her desk.

     She was going to get started on the essay as soon as possible. Get it done with, and get it done early.

      It helps when you're friends with your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor when homework is assigned in that subject.

     Nikki ran her hand through Sirius' fur as she began to jot down notes from her textbook, planning out how she was going to write her essay.

     She was glad she had a lunch break after this class. It was getting a little strange having her boyfriend tag along to her classes as a pet, unable to actually speak with him.

     Nikki and Sirius usually spent their lunch hour in Remus' office, Sirius able to actually talk and stay in his human form for more than a couple minutes.

     The bell rang as Nikki finished her first paragraph for the essay, the seventh years all heading down to the Great Hall together.

     "Bloody hell, I just want a sandwich," Nikki mumbled to herself, "not a sit-down-and-chat."

     She squeezed through the crowd of students milling around in the front of the Great Hall, heading for the Gryffindor table.

     An ear-shattering scream came from the third-years. Sirius whimpered, the noise echoing and rattling through his head.

     "The Grim!" Lavender Brown exclaimed, eyes wide and finger extended out, pointing at the dog practically glued to Nikki's side.

     Harry Potter groaned, his head thunking down on the table in front of him. "Does Nikki look dead to you?"

     "I just wanted a bloody sandwich, is that really such an ask?" Nikki huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "He's not the Grim. His name is Scruffy. He's my dog."

     "Is everything alright over here, children?" The mystical voice of Professor Trelawney chimed in as she glided over. Her voice stuck in her throat as she laid eyes on the dog.

     She gasped.

     Nikki was done with this shit. She wanted her damn sandwich, and Sirius just happening to have a similar likeness to the fictitious Grim in Divination was getting in the way of that.

     "He's a bloody dog!"

     "Nic... you do remember how Great-Uncle Bilius saw a Grim and then died a few hours later?" Ron hesitantly prodded.

     "Yeah... of laughter," Nikki deadpanned, rolling her eyes and quickly fixing up a sandwich. She left the Great Hall rapidly, striding away from the chaos.

     "Bloody Divination," she groaned under her breath as she knocked on the door to Remus' office.

     The door opened, Remus ushering them inside. A set of three teacups were laid out along with an assortment of pastries.

     "Moony the housewife!" Sirius joked, turning back into his human form as soon as feasibly possible. He flopped onto the couch.

     "One measly sandwich," Nikki sighed. "Maybe I should dye your fur white or something; stop the Grim association."

     Sirius snorted as he reached for a pastry, biting into it. "I'd be a free man then, call me Sirius White."

     Remus shook his head, feigning exasperation. "Or Joseph King. You're just Joe King."

     Nikki laughed at the name. "And everyone thought you were the most well-behaved Marauder."

     "What's this I hear about you convincing a third year to change their boggart of Snivellus into Snivellus in drag?" Sirius posed innocently, popping the rest of the pastry in his mouth. "It's been going around the Hogwarts gossip channels."

     Remus shrugged, a small, sly smile on his face. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

     Nikki split her sandwich in half and handed one half to Sirius, biting into her half in the same motion.

     "I've 'been good,'" Sirius cheerfully quipped, leaning back into the couch as he tilted his head to the side. "No explosions, no hexes, nothing!"

     He gave a mock sigh. "Bit boring though."

     "You want a treat for being good?" Nikki teased, brown eyes wide with faux innocence. "I don't know how well dog treats taste..."

     "You will soon," Sirius replied as he took a casual bite of sandwich.

     Remus buried his head in his hands. "Please say that doesn't mean what I think it means."

     "...You didn't tell him?"

     "Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission," Nikki dryly said. "And too late to talk me out of it; I already have the mandrake leaf for the next full moon."

     "I won't let you do this for me! It was bad enough with this lot!" Remus refused.

     Sirius' eyes flicked from Remus to Nikki as he took slow bites of his sandwich. 'Why'd it have to be mayo... Moony's not going to win this.'

     "Again, you're not talking me out of it," Nikki declared firmly. "You need company on full moon nights. And somehow we've got to catch Pettigrew. An animal's more inconspicuous... unless I'm a bear or something."

     Sirius straightened immediately, his back taut and eyes darkening. "Neither of you are helping. This is my problem, my job. And I don't want either of you getting hurt."

     "Bloody hell," Nikki swore, speaking through her bite of sandwich. "He's at Hogwarts. We're kinda fucked either way - he would recognize us. Also you can't do everything yourself!"

     "Watch me," Sirius replied churlishly, a singular eyebrow raised in a challenge.

     Nikki raised her eyebrow as well. "Fine. I'll figure out how he's here myself. And I once spent four months with Fred and George holed up in the library looking at old Daily Prophet records - for you, might I add - I don't give up easily."

     "A dog with a bone," Remus mused to himself. "And Nikki's right, Sirius, you need help. You can't do everything yourself or else you'll shatter."

     "Yeah, well, look at how well trusting somebody other than myself went last time," Sirius grumbled in an undertone to himself, just quiet enough where Remus couldn't hear him.

     Louder, he asked, "Can we just leave it? Nobody wins here: Remus, Nikki's becoming an Animagus. If things go right, day before Halloween the mandrake step is done. Nikki, I'm sorry, but I'm not letting you help me go rat hunting."

     He paused. Hopefully Nikki didn't pick up on the hint to the traitor's Animagus form.

     "And I'm not going to win the argument about you finding out on your own," he finished. "Three way stalemate."

Word Count: 3,159