Disclaimer: All JKR's, not mine.
Except Charlotte.
Canine Sensibility
The first-years seemed to get smaller every year, Sirius mused, as he pushed his way through the crammed corridor of the Hogwarts Express and considered hexing someone just so people would get out of his way. Just a minute ago, he had seen Snivellus and he wasn't about to miss the opportunity to annoy the Slytherin without teachers in the vicinity.
As he passed the compartments where the new students had gathered, the corridor slowly emptied and he sighed in relief when he was able to move freely again.
A little further down the corridor, he saw Charlotte Andrews, a sixth-year Gryffindor like him, talking to some Ravenclaw who glanced into the compartment behind Charlotte. The dark-haired girl made a gesture as if to stop the other one from going into the compartment, and as he came closer, Sirius' ears picked up their whispered conversation.
"Why… what happened?"
Charlotte glanced over her shoulder and sighed. "It's Lily's mom." She sighed again and took a deep breath before she continued: "She… she died two months ago."
Sirius stopped abruptly, all thoughts of hexing Snape forgotten. His first instinct screamed at him to go in there, say something consoling, but he and Lily weren't exactly friends or barely even acquaintances; all he knew about the redhead was from James' long, rather desperate and exaggerated speeches and he suspected that all she knew about him was that he was James' friend.
Then he had an idea.
The three girls in the compartment looked up in surprise when they heard something scratch at the door.
Charlotte grabbed her wand and slowly approached the door, ready to cast a spell at any second; behind her, Marlene whispered: "Charlie – be careful –"
She nodded without taking her eyes off the door; the scratching paused for a moment, and as it resumed, Charlotte flung the door open with all her strength… and almost laughed when she saw the creature behind it.
Ignoring Charlotte, it immediately trotted into the compartment and stopped in front of Lily, who seemed curious, but not frightened. After a few moments of looking at her, the dog gave a quiet whine and put his head on Lily's knees, eyes closing blissfully when she petted him; then, he jumped onto the seat next to her and lay down so his front paws and head rested in the girl's lap, and for the first time in two months, Lily felt a smile – a real smile – slowly appearing on her face.
"Hey, did you… oh, there you are!"
Remus Lupin, who had just appeared in the doorway, glanced at the dog on Lily's lap with a mixture of exasperation and fondness in his eyes.
"He's yours?" Lily asked, surprised.
"Um… yeah. He's… sort of the family dog, followed me in here this morning." Remus explained, lightly patting his leg. "Padfoot, come here."
The dog raised his head lazily and made a protesting noise, but he stood up and jumped off the seat anyway. For a moment, he just sat in front of Lily, enjoying a last-minute scratching of his ears before he went to Remus' side.
"He didn't bother you, did he?" the boy asked, sounding a little nervous.
"Oh, no, he's actually really cute." Lily quickly assured him.
"Alright… thanks." He made a move to leave, but stopped for a second to look at his fellow prefect. "I… I heard about what happened. I'm sorry."
"Thanks."
There was no time for Padfoot to turn back, so Remus found himself walking through the crowd on the platform with a huge black dog at his heels. Two third-years in front of him quickly scampered out of his way; he wasn't sure if it was because of the dog or because he was grinning maniacally, but he didn't bother to find out. Right now, he was having too much fun imagining Sirius' reaction once he realised Lily had just called him "cute".
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