Shelter • wolfstar au

07 ; attack

Chapter Seven: Attack

13 December, 1981

Sirius was met with a cloud of white fur that toppled him backwards as soon as the door of the house opened. He yelped, as he couldn't recognise his friend, who was now nearly as big as he was, but once he saw the familiar white face streaked with black, and the same habit of nudging him with his snout, he barked happily and leapt onto him, causing him to fall backwards.

Caspar, as he was now called, barked to express his delight and Sirius licked his face a few times to show that he was pleased to see him. But he had forgotten that Caspar has grown stronger and he was taken aback when the husky pushed him off and got on his feet.

They ran around the house while Caspar's owners watched them, and Sirius saw Remus having a conversation with the youngest member of the family, who he assumed to be closest with the dog. After a while, Caspar led him to another room, a small one, with a mattress big enough for a toddler, lying on the ground, which was strewn with chew toys and chicken bones. It took him a while to register that the room belonged to Caspar and his eyes widened in wonder.

Caspar picked up a long toy in his mouth and approached him, and he bit on the other end before they began to play tug of war.

Lost in games, Sirius thought that he could easily forget he was a human and spend the remainder of his life as a dog. Surely, someone would adopt him sooner or later, even though he was an adult dog, and from what he had seen in the shelter, only a very few people adopted adult dogs. Nevertheless, he wouldn't mind living in the shelter either - as much as he hated staying in the cage, the shelter had become his home, especially with Remus taking him on regular walks everyday.

Of course, the thought of staying that way reminded him about the war that was brewing in the wizarding world. With Harry Potter dead, Voldemort was on the rise and was surely getting stronger. Many people were probably getting killed and injured everyday trying to fight the death eaters, and there he was - disguised as a dog and hiding in a cage.

Sirius had never hated himself more.

But then again, all his friends were dead and one of them was a death eater - he didn't know, but he assumed that Azkaban has been taken over by Voldemort - and there was nothing left for him back there. So why should he go back?

As selfish as it sounded, Sirius felt that he wasn't ready to return, so he convinced himself that he would probably return someday, when he had come to terms with his friends' and godson's deaths.

❇

When they left Caspar's house, Sirius felt incredibly happy and light, glad to have met his friend. He hopped along beside Remus, who was smiling, and occasionally kicked the snow on the ground just to express his happiness. After a while, Remus spoke. "Were you pleased to meet him?"