Written for:

Quidditch League - Round 4

Team: Holyhead Harpies

Beater 1 - Write about a pet changing the owner's life - for better or for worse.

Prompts: (word) pillow, (dialogue) "Who's a good boy/girl?"

A/N - This is an AU

Responsibilities

Lily's words rang in his head as he stormed away from the Potters' house and towards his flat. He angrily stabbed his finger at the screen of his phone, looking for someone to rant to. He couldn't very well call James to complain because Lily would probably be listening over his shoulder.

Even more furious now, he clicked on Facebook to see who had posted recently, hoping it would give him an idea whether anyone else wanted to join him in a moan, when he came across Mary's wall post.

Immediately the anger faded, his full attention fixed on the picture of seven tiny adorable puppies. His eyes moved to the top of the post.

'7WK POODLE-MIX FOR SALE - INBOX ME!'

It only took two more minutes of scrolling through the rest of the pictures for Sirius to make up his mind. He couldn't help but fall in love by the time he reached the last picture showing the two remaining puppies. He had always wanted a dog, but his mother had refused. Plus, getting a dog was proof of his responsible side. Once Lily saw he could look after a dog, she'd eat her words.

Forty-five minutes later, Sirius was in a cab home, the small black bundle in his arms. He finally got what he always wanted - a puppy - and looking after it was going to be a piece of cake.

...oOo...

After hearing his new baby whining in the kitchen, Sirius had quickly given in and moved the puppy into his room. The pitiful barks and yips saddened him and he sympathised with his new pet. The poor darling was probably terrified and confused. Once set down on the bedroom floor, Snuffles, as the puppy was now known, began to run around the room, sniffing everything excitedly and tripped over the corner of his rug. Sirius couldn't help but laugh at the sight and Snuffles' tail wagged faster as he turned to look up at Sirius with his big brown eyes. Sirius scooped the puppy up and set him on the makeshift bed, before setting down some newspaper by his bedroom door.

He headed back to bed, pleased that the puppy looked content on the blanket he had pulled from his bed. He had considered a clean one, but this one was only a day old and the Snuffles would get used to his scent and dogs liked scents and stuff, right?

He glanced one more time at his puppy before he got under his own covers and settled down to sleep, mentally praising himself for doing an excellent job.

...oOo...

Before he even opened his eyes the next morning, Sirius was aware of a damp feeling under his head. He was still in the process of waking up and couldn't for the life of him work out what was going on.

It took him a few seconds to realise that his pillow shouldn't be that wet. Yes, sometimes he drooled on it, but that never soaked his pillow to this extent.

He sat up, his hand coming up to his hair. His hair was damp and when Sirius breathed in, he could smell something that was somewhat musky and reminded him of ammonia. He reluctantly brought his hand to his face and sniffed, quickly moving his hand away when he realised that the smell was coming from his hair.

He turned, his eyes on the pillow and the yellow, damp stain that covered it. Before he could process further, a small creature pawed at his leg, and Sirius let out a scream.

Upon seeing Snuffles flee at the sound, he felt guilty for startling the dog. He had forgotten all about him, but then the dots connected and he turned to glance at his pillow. Now he understood the yellow stain. Clearly Snuffles had somehow gotten up onto his bed, and, instead of using the newspaper Sirius had kindly left out for him, had chosen to use Sirius' pillow.

Sirius let out a groan. With one hand, he reached for the puppy and carefully set him down on the floor, before getting off the bed. He would deal with the bedding later, but for now, he had to take a shower. He had wee in his hair and was traumatised. It would need to be soaked for at least an hour.

...oOo...

Sirius hadn't had a chance to buy doggy bags, so he improvised. With a pocket full of carrier bags and a pair of rubber gloves, he set out with Snuffles for the dog's first official walk.

He snapped a couple of pictures and posted them to Facebook, hoping Lily would see them and realise he was very good at adulting, despite her harsh words about how he was too irresponsible to look after Harry alone.

They quickly reached the small green near Sirius' flat and he watched in horror as the dog squatted down right in the middle of the pavement. He hadn't even gone toilet on the grass like other dogs did and Sirius was completely mortified. He wasn't ready for this!

He stared down at it and realised that he had to pick it up. He hesitated for a long moment and glanced around, but noticed that a woman that was walking by was staring at him expectantly.

He knew he had no choice, and reached into his pocket, pulling out the bright yellow washing up gloves that he had prepared. He slipped them on and grabbed two of the carrier bags, doubling them up before crouching down.

He gently pushed Snuffles away from the poo where the dog was trying to sniff or eat it, he wasn't sure which and didn't want to know, and winced as he brought his hand down, grabbing the squishy, disgusting waste. He gagged when he felt the warmth of it through the bags and glove. How the hell was he going to do this every day?

The bag was quickly tied and he held it at arms length as he walked to the bin. Once it was deposited, he carefully removed the gloves, putting them away. It was time to go home. Yet once they had reached the end of the path, Snuffles stopped suddenly.

Sirius turned and watched in horror as the puppy squatted again.

...oOo...

Sirius wanted to cry. He had never been so close to tears before, but he couldn't handle what he was seeing. His treasured leather jacket which he had hung over the arm of the sofa, was now in the middle of the living room… well, some of it was.

As for Snuffles, he was laying across the scraps of it, looking extremely pleased with himself. His little tail was wagging in excitement as he stared up at Sirius.

This was harder than it had been with his boots the previous day, or with his favourite t-shirt the day before.

He slowly approached the puppy, wondering what the hell to do now, when he noticed the suspicious brown stain on the cream carpet.

He froze, staring at it for a long moment, knowing exactly what the stain was. After some consideration, he checked both of his feet, relieved that he hadn't stood in the poo this time, which made a nice change. But looking around, he couldn't work out where it was. He could only see the stain.

The dog let out a small whine, his tail wagging once more when Sirius looked over, and Sirius was horrified when he realised exactly where the dog poo was.

Snuffles stepped towards him and Sirius quickly backed away, rushing from the room. He grabbed an old towel from the cupboard and returned to the room, throwing the towel over his puppy before picking him up. He wasn't going to touch any animal that had faeces in its fur with his bare hands.

He couldn't help but panic. His dog was out of control and clearly had hygiene issues. He had to sort Snuffles out quickly because he had planned to bring the puppy over to Lily and James to show them that he was in fact capable of being mature. He wanted to prove Lily wrong, but in the state they were in, he would be proving her right. There was no way he would ever admit that Lily may have been correct in her assumption.

If she saw the state of his flat, his rug, his precious belongings, the dog, or Sirius' poor hair that had been tied in a bun since Snuffles tried to eat it, she'd know that he wasn't ready. He made sure Snuffles could breathe from under the towel, and rushed from his flat, only stopping for a moment to lock the door after him.

...oOo...

"Help! It's an emergency!" Sirius shouted, the door crashing hard against the wall as it was flung open. He glanced around wildly, before rushing to a blonde woman with curls, who was about to lift a dog into a small tub. "Help!" he demanded again, pulling the towel away and attempting to get Snuffles into the water.

A man rushed over. "Is everything okay?" he asked. "Would you like me to call the local vet?"

Sirius took one look at the man, his gaze moving to the t-shirt that had the shop's logo printed on the front, before bursting into tears. "No, it's not okay!" he declared, between sobs and sniffs. "This dog is out of control. Someone please help me. He won't let me clean him - the last time I tried, he shook water all over me and I had to wash the dirt out of my hair… again! I don't know what to do anymore."

The man glanced down at the tiny puppy who was sitting down, his tail thumping against the floor. "Well… what do you need us to do? I have a bit of free time so I can help you now."

"Can you teach him to stop eating my clothes?" Sirius asked, his eyes moving from the man's face down to the name-tag. "He ate my leather jacket, Remus. Now what'll I wear when I go out on my motorbike?" He sniffed pitifully.

"How about I start by giving him a bath and cut his hair. Do you want the whole traditional poodle look or…" He waited for Sirius to nod before continuing. "But we're not able to train him here."

Sirius stared at Remus for a long moment before sighing deeply. "I guess a bath is a good place to start. He's covered in poo."

Remus glanced down at the dog, noticing a small bit of poo on the dog's side. "Of course," he said, not wanting Sirius to get upset further. "I'll get someone to make you a cup of tea whilst you wait."

Sirius merely nodded, relieved that someone was finally helping him. Really, Lily and James had it easy. Children were obviously much easier to look after than pets.

...oOo...

"How do you do that?" Sirius demanded, watching Remus handle the dog with ease. He hadn't even put on gloves when using a doggy-bag to clean up the poo Snuffles had done. For a moment, Sirius thought he'd have to do it himself, and was starting to panic because his gloves were at home.

"Do what?" Remus asked, glancing around at Sirius.

"Clean that up?" Sirius asked, as the lead was clipped back onto Snuffles' collar and handed to Sirius.

Remus smiled. "I've worked here for a few years, so that's nothing," he said. "Look, I've got a break coming up and you look like you're having a hard time with your puppy, if you don't mind me saying. Do you want some advice or a bit of help?"

Sirius nodded quickly, hoping that Remus was going to offer that help. Maybe he'd come over and they could look after Snuffles together? Perhaps he could cook Remus dinner and they could catch a movie?

"Okay. I'll go and get cleaned up. Meet me back here in fifteen minutes," Remus said.

...oOo...

The pair walked to the park, the dog excitedly running between them, pulling hard against the lead, but unable to put enough strength behind each tug.

"How long have you had him?" Remus asked, breaking the silence.

"Four days," Sirius answered. "My friend assured me that he had injections and stuff and I registered him at the vet. But… dogs are hard."

"They are at first. Once he's trained, you'll find it easier," Remus insisted.

"He's doing a poo," Sirius shouted, panicking and reaching for the gloves he had purchased in the last fifteen minutes. "Crap!"

"Don't panic," Remus advised. "If you panic, he'll get upset. He's going to the toilet outside and you want to praise that. Keep praising and he'll get used to not going inside."

"So he won't poo on my carpets again? How do I stop him weeing on my pillow?"

Remus' lips twitched as he crouched down to pet Snuffles. "Who's a good boy?" he murmured softly. "You are. Good Snuffles, good boy." The dog nuzzled against Remus' fingers, clearly pleased by the soft tone.

"So he's trained to go toilet outside now?" Sirius checked.

Remus gave the dog one last pet, before reaching into his pocket for a doggy bag. He made quick work of the mess and tied the bag, handing it to Sirius.

Sirius took it carefully with two fingers, holding it at arms length, but Remus crossed his arms. "Sirius, you've got a dog and a responsibility now. The bags aren't thin enough to rip so trust that you won't get anything on your fingers. If you're really worried, may I suggest some hand sanitiser."

Sirius nodded his head. "Hand sanitiser. Got it," he muttered.

"As for your question - Snuffles isn't going to learn this suddenly. It'll take constant praise. Praise good behaviour and maybe reward with a small treat. I usually go for the doggy chocolate drops because they're small so you can give them a few of them rather than something big."

"I can do this," Sirius murmured. "I didn't realise it would be that much work though. He pissed on my pillow. He ripped up my favourite t-shirt and my leather jacket. He's destroying everything."

"He's a puppy and doesn't know any better," Remus responded, nodding for Sirius to follow him down the street. "Look, I don't usually do this but… how about I leave you my number? If you get stuck, I'll be able to answer questions and stuff."

"Maybe you could come over and help me?" Sirius asked, stopping for a moment to deposit the bag into the bin, before they began to walk again. "Tomorrow maybe, over dinner?"

Remus snorted. "Is this helping or is this a date request?" he asked.

"Both?" Sirius suggested hopefully, reaching to scoop up his puppy. He brought Snuffles up to his face, giving Remus big eyes whilst hoping that Snuffles was doing his best to look as adorable. After all, the puppy was cute, but it was no Sirius Black.

Snuffles turned his head, nipping happily at Sirius' nose, causing Sirius to frown and Remus let out a laugh.

"How can I say no to this?" he asked, gesturing to both Sirius and the puppy. "If you walk me back to the shop, I'll get my phone and we can exchange numbers."

When he looked away, Sirius reached up, carefully high-fiving Snuffles' paw. "Well done, my little wingman," he murmured. "There's hope for you yet!"

Snuffles replied by weeing on Sirius.

...oOo...

Lily watched Harry run around with Snuffles in the park. The small boy squealed in excitement as Snuffles stumbled over his feet.

"Get the ball!" Harry shouted, throwing the ball. It didn't go very far, but Snuffles didn't seem to care. He ran over, attempting to pick the tennis ball up in his small mouth, causing Harry to laugh.

"Will you two be alright?" Lily checked, looking between Remus and Sirius.

Sirius nodded his head. "We will," he assured her for the third time. Remus had insisted that Sirius not lose his temper and he knew now to listen to Remus' advice at all times. "We'll stay in this park and play, maybe go to the ice-cream van on the corner and then come back in. We'll meet you here in an hour."

"Lily, he kept that dog alive for three months. We can trust him with Harry," James said. "We'll only be five minutes down the road in case he needs us."

Lily nodded reluctantly. "Don't take yours eyes off him," she said. "We'll be back after we eat. Though I'm not all that hungry, thinking about it."

"Love, give Sirius a chance to prove himself," James insisted. "Harry will be fine. I mean, we made him godfather - if anything ever happened to us, he'd be the one raising our son. I trust him."

"You're right." Lily sighed softly. "Let's go. But if you need anything, I'll have my phone at the ready." She glanced towards Harry. "Sweetheart, we're off now. You be good for your Uncle Sirius and for Remus."

Harry rushed over to hug his parents, before returning to Snuffles, and James rushed Lily away before she could change her mind, leaving Sirius and Remus watching Harry and Snuffles.

"I think getting this dog is the best thing I've ever done," Sirius said.

"Why's that?" Remus asked.

Sirius reached for his hand. "Well, Snuffles has changed my life. Lily is trusting me to look after Harry, and it led me to you."

"You sap," Remus laughed. "But I'm glad you got him too. He's a good dog."

"He is," Sirius agreed.