GOOD DOG || Sirius Black

(Nine: Sincerely, Me *Reprise)

Alex closed her eyes briefly in relief, allowing herself to relax into the covers once more, "Thank you."

"You have a visitor." Madame Pomfrey told her, "He is being very annoying. You have ten minutes."

In the three seconds where the curtain was closed in between Madame Pomfrey exiting and the teenage boy entering Alex's enclosed space, she wondered how in Merlin's name she could possibly explain all of this to Logan. The blurry splodge was definitely teenage-boy shaped. It stood awkwardly at the bottom of her bed, fuzzy stumps of arms disappearing inside of pockets.

"I- Um, hi, Logan." Alex stammered.

The shape moved around her bed slightly, maintaining a respectful distance, "Actually, it's Remus."

"Oh Merlin, I'm sorry." Alex prayed that her red flush would be well camouflaged by her general sickly pallor, "I'm having trouble with seeing things and-"

"It's okay." Remus said gently, so that Alex almost believed that it was, "I understand. I've, um... I've got a lot of experience with... Dog bites."

"Look, Remus, I'm really sorry." Alex knotted her fingers together, "I should have listened to you, and the whole thing is so stupid now and I've made a mess of things and-"

"Do you know what it was that attacked you?" Remus asked suddenly. Alex was too sick to ponder anything about the question.

She looked down, "It's like you said: A dog bit me."

"That's a pretty big dog." Remus observed. The blob that was his face moved closer, like he was leaning over her. Alex fought the urge to flinch away.

"Yeah, it... um, it was." Alex glanced down.

Alex could just make out the hazel of Remus's eyes, though the emotions created by the lines that surrounded them remained as elusive as ever. It was strange, but Alex thought that maybe she preferred it that way: Not even having the capacity to guess at what anyone was thinking, "I'm sure that the owner of the dog was very sorry."

Alex couldn't help it- she laughed. It was short, and painful, and almost definitely made her look insane, but it was a laugh nonetheless, "I don't think the dog has an owner."

"Right. Of course. I'm sorry, again." Remus nodded to her, and did some kind of strange gesture that Alex realised too late was an invitation for an awkward handshake. He turned to leave.

"Um, Remus?" Alex asked, before common sense could stop her. The boy turned and looked at her, "Did you... Did you come and visit me last night, or this morning? I think... I mean, I remember..."

Remus shook his head, but there was a knowing tone to his voice that Alex didn't like, "This is the first time I've seen you since yesterday."

"Oh. Well, it's probably just my imagination." Alex frowned. She had been sure, so sure that there had been a reassuring voice by her side, for just a moment of lucidness.

"See you, Alex." Remus said, unaware or uncaring about her distracted expression, "If you want any help with dog bites, you know where to find me."

Remus moved to her bedside table, and placed something on the surface before leaving. Alex sat back against the pillows, sighing. That could have gone better.

{===}

Sirius paced the floor in between Remus's section of the hospital wing and Alex's.

He could hear every word that his friend was exchanging with the maybe-werewolf-maybe-not girl who was lying in a bed on the other side of the partition. He couldn't deny the sense of responsibility he felt for Alex, after all he was, in certain respects, her dog. Still, he was slightly indignant about the lack of trust that Alex had for Remus. It was almost impossible to naturally distrust Remus Lupin. He was like a walking fluffy ball of reassurance. You got the impression that everything he was talking about he had researched, checked three times for relevance, and had five years experience in the field. He was just one of those people.

"Um, Remus?" he heard Alex call out, "Did you... Did you come and visit me last night, or this morning? I think... I mean, I remember..."

Sirius couldn't help his small smile. The mere concept of Alex having heard him last night was simultaneously brilliantly terrifying and crazily coincidental. And if that matchup of adjectives doesn't give you an idea of the whirlwind his mind became, nothing can.

By the time Remus emerged, Sirius had managed to lean himself against the wall in what he hoped looked like casual boredom.

"I'll never understand you, dude." Sirius shook his head a Remus, aware that Alex could hear everything, "One girl gets bit by a dog and we have to rush down here to get her chocolate."

Remus shrugged, and gave Sirius a knowing look. They had been there since the night before, but 'visiting' Alex seemed as good an excuse as any to be in the Hospital Wing, "Chocolate helps."

Sirius leaned close to Remus, muttering under his breath, "Did she find her camera stuff?"

"She can barely see, Padfoot." Remus raised his eyebrows, "I doubt she noticed me put the Cadburys bar on her bedside table."

"Right, well, I was just... wondering." Sirius kicked at the floor sheepishly.

Remus clapped Sirius's shoulder, "I'm sure that's all it was."

Remus turned on his heel and left the room before Sirius had chance to think of a good enough retort.

Sirius took a long look at the partition that Alex was behind. It would be so easy, just to shift into a dog and go see her, check if she was really okay. Alex would tell 'Snuffles' anything, like a diary with a language lock, but it felt just a bit like Sirius was cheating. He had to earn the right of being accepted by Alex, didn't he?

Merlin, that sounded like a lot of hard work.

{====}

A/N

I am really not proud of this chapter. Just hang on for a little longer, I promise things get more interesting. Still, this early on, every chapter feels like a milestone. So this is the season of the not-quite-real exam. Good luck, and don't blame yourself too much.

Mischief Managed
BecauseBecky