Remus was walking slowly down a street of huddled shops. It was a clear, sunny day, and that was the main reason he was out. Earlier that day Molly Weasley had suggested that he get some fresh air to try to cheer up. She wasn't the only one: most of his friends were worried about him. He guessed some of them—the older ones, perhaps—knew why he, in particular, had been so badly affected by the recent disaster.

Honestly, he had so little confidence in this "cheering him up", that he didn't even care where he ended up. So here he was, wandering along this street, lost in his own thoughts, and just killing enough time to appease Molly.

It had been almost two weeks and it still didn't seem real. Sirius was gone, and Remus seemed to be the last one to accept it. He just couldn't.

He unconsciously plodded past a small shop with a large window. Of the many things taped to it, there was a bright orange paper in the middle. It was meant to catch the attention of people so it could convey its message of a found dog.

The first thing that caught his eye was that the picture wasn't moving like a normal wizarding picture should. He walked over to examine the flyer further, and a closer look at the dog in the photo took his breath away. The image of a great black, shaggy dog stared back at him with intelligent eyes. Any other witch or wizard that looked at this would immediately think of the Grimm. But Remus didn't think of danger, he thought of a friend. Despite how hard he tried not to.

He grabbed the paper off the window and, without taking his eyes off it, absently walked into the shop. The shop turned out to be a little café and a small woman came up to him as he entered.

"Hello! Can I help—oh! I see you've seen my flyer. Do you know that dog?" She looked at the paper he had clutched in his hands.

Remus didn't answer her at first so she tried again.

"Have you lost a dog?"

He chuckled grimly. "More like a best friend."

She smiled. "I know what you mean. Man's best friend. Well, if you want, I can take you to see him; I get off work in ten minutes."

He was still a bit dazed, but the woman smiled again and said, "Coffee?"

Ten minutes later Remus found himself walking beside the woman on her way home and half listening to her talk. After awhile though, she had his full attention with the things she was saying.

"…found him wandering around about two weeks ago. He's been a delight to have around, though it'd be great if he were yours, I can't have a dog, really."

Remus stepped up closer to walk more beside her. She glanced over at him. "And he's the strangest dog I've ever seen! You can just look into his eyes and see that he knows exactly what you're saying. He's really smart and everything he does seems…human…"

By the time he knew it, they were at the door of a small wooden house with rose bushes around it and a small box with a red flag on the side. Remus gave it a funny look; he hadn't seen one of those since….

Then it struck him: this woman must be a Muggle. That explained the photo…

She opened the door and a big black blur flung itself at them. The huge dog jumped up at the woman but stopped dead when it saw Remus. It backed away a step and gazed at him with large black eyes. Eyes that Remus knew all too well. They made his knees buckle. He could feel his throat constrict and any words that might form were lost there.

"P-Padfoot…?" he whispered.

The woman was watching the scene. She giggled. "Padfoot, hmm? That's a cute name. He seems to recognize you."

But Remus wasn't listening, he was hardly breathing. He was simply staring into the eyes of the great black dog, who stared back equally enthralled. The dog tilted his head in contemplation and whimpered softly in frustration as if a memory was just escaping him.

"You see what I mean about his eyes?" The woman talked on. "Say, do you know what he is? I can't seem to tell…perhaps part Labrador?"

Remus waved her off impatiently. "What? No, he's an Animagus…" he said dismissively, completely forgetting who he was talking to.

"Ani—whatstis? Is that German?"

"What? No. Listen, miss, t-this is…my dog…"

"Oh good!" She trilled happily.

And so Remus found himself walking out the little front door followed by a dog that was hauntingly familiar to the one he knew could turn into his best friend. But that was impossible. Sirius was dead, and now Remus didn't know why he'd claimed the dog, but at the time, there had been no way he could've walked away from it.

During the short time since Remus had acquired the company of the black dog, he had been flooded with memories that he couldn't get rid of. The dog was unmistakably at least the mirror image of Padfoot if not—Remus dared not hope—his lost friend himself.

Even with his doubts, Remus noticed things that confirmed the woman's suspicious chatter about how strange the dog was. He, however, saw its behaviors not as strange, but on the contrary, very familiar.

He knew he had to get some answers, at the very least so he could kill the false hopes that had dared to invade his grieving. There was only one place he could go for that.

Ok here's the first chapter! I've never done a chapter story before so I hope this works.

Again, please R&R, although I won't threaten you by withholding chapters because I've already got it about done!