Excerpts Newt reads are taken from Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Also, this story is super AU trapped somewhere between the Marauders era and modern time.


He was told never to turn into his Animagus unless it was that time of the month where he, Wormtail, and Prongs had to keep Moony from running amuck as a Werewolf, but Sirius Black was never one for rules. The way Sirius saw it was that he was already breaking the rules by being an unregistered Animagus, so what harm was there in turning into a dog to spy on one of his peers? Not just any peer, mind you, but a cute and shy Hufflepuff by the name of Newt Scamander.

Everyday, like clockwork, Newt Scamander could be found in a more secluded area of Hogwarts underneath a solo tree with his nose stuck in a book and, as such, Sirius always made an excuse. He'd tell Prongs and the others that he'd catch up with them later because he had detention for something or another and they were none the wiser, though Sirius was pretty sure Remus knew what was really up. It was always hard to get one past Moony. Luckily for Sirius, Remus could keep a secret.

Afterwards, when he was sure the coast was clear, Sirius would skulk off somewhere in private and transform into his Animagus. In his dog form, Padfoot scampered off swiftly towards the field Newt was known to hide out at. Sometimes he'd run past other students, but they never paid him much attention. As far as they knew, he was just another one of Hagrid's beasts he kept around. Which was fine as long as neither James, Peter, or Remus caught him.

Newt would already be reading away by the time Padfoot came trotting up, clearly too wrapped up in the fictional world within his book to even notice the black dog dashing towards him excitedly. Even though Sirius made a conscious effort to join Newt almost everyday, the Hufflepuff always looked so surprised when he saw the incognito Gryffindor at his feet, wagging his tail.

"Oh! Hello there, boy," Newt greeted with that goofy, lopsided grin of his. He would usually reach out to pat Padfoot on the head.

Sirius would subconsciously lean into the contact, panting with exasperation as his wide tongue lolled out of his mouth lazily. Newt giggled at this, prompting Sirius to nuzzle at Newt's hand as he poked and prodded at the Hufflepuff with his wet nose. Sirius' Animagus instincts coupled with the fact that he had a crush on Newt didn't help to soften his eagerness.

"Yes, it's very nice to see you too, boy," Newt went on to say when the dog got a little too overzealous with his nuzzling.

Newt wiped his hand off on his trousers, regarding the friendly black dog with another warm smile before picking up his book once again. The Muggle literature Newt was indulging in today was titled Slaughterhouse Five. Why Newt was so fascinated with books written by Muggles was beyond Sirius' knowledge, but the Hufflepuff seemed to enjoy it just fine.

After awhile of Newt silently reading to himself Sirius got antsy, craving more attention from the cute and gentle soul that was Newt. Sirius barked at Newt, bringing the ginger out of his trance-like state with a pair of wide blue eyes. Sirius never barked at Newt before which knocked the bookworm for a loop, but this was surprisingly quelled by Newt's soft voice.

"What is it, boy?" Newt inquired with an empathetic tone, frowning slightly at the black dog's distress. "What's wrong?"

Padfoot whined impatiently, shuffling on his paws as he tried to convey what he wanted through pitiful cries and imploring eyes. Sirius inched forward and nudged at Newt's hand with his nose, whimpering to get his point across. Newt's face softened a bit when he got the hint and indulged Padfoot in good ruffling of his fur. This got a reaction out of Sirius, causing his tail to wag and Newt hummed thoughtfully.

"Better?" Newt asked, eyes twinkling.

Sirius barked happily, tongue hanging out once again as the top of his head was scratched by nimble fingers.

"You know, after all the times you've come to visit me, I still have no clue what to call you," Newt admitted in a dreamy, far off tone.

Newt sighed and went on to scratch behind Sirius' ears and stroke the raven fur down the length of his back. Eventually Newt's ministrations got Padfoot to relax so much that the Animagus rolled over on his back with the intent of getting his stomach scratched. He felt the Hufflepuff's hand leave him, making Sirius roll back onto his paws as stare up at the ginger.

Sirius couldn't really tell you why he was so taken with the mostly introverted Hufflepuff. He wasn't particularly outstanding and they've hardly ever spoke to one another, but if Sirius had to take a stab in the dark he'd assume it was Newt's natural affinity for caring about other species and the importance of understanding them. After all, it was one of the reasons why Sirius respected Hagrid so much.

It was no secret that Sirius thought Newt was extremely cute as well, what with his unruly locks of ginger hair and the dusting of boyish freckles covering his pasty cheeks. Newt just had the type of aura and charm that just pulled people towards him like a magnet and Sirius was affected greatly by it. But all reasoning escapes him as his more animalistic instincts cast a fog over his mind.

Without a second thought, Padfoot acted out on instinct and pounced on Newt, tackling the other student to the ground. Newt gasped at the sudden playfulness of the black dog. Sirius set out to start lapping at the flustered ginger's face, licking at warm freckled cheeks. Padfoot's tail wagged wildly, making his rear end move with it as he attacked Newt. Newt squealed as he tried to fend off the barrage of wet dog kisses, but not really.

Newt had a natural love for animals and beasts because of his mother and being showered with affection from a friendly dog only seemed to reaffirm that. The hearty laughter only urged Sirius to nuzzle and drench the redhead in more of his kisses. Despite the fact that Sirius was dousing the object of his affection in overzealous licks, there was the human part of him longing for more. Sure, he had his tongue all over Newt's face, but Sirius would rather kiss Newt more properly.

"Alright, alright," Newt defused with a calming voice as he gently pushed the dog off of him. Newt rubbed at his face, wincing when he attempts to wipe away all the dog slobber. "Look at the state of me! I suppose you're quite pleased with yourself?"

Padfoot barked in confirmation, ears bouncing slightly as he panted happily up at the adorable ginger before him.

"Oh? Is that so?" Newt replied, eyebrows shooting up towards his hairline.

The Animagus barked twice in response, then once more for good measure.

"Well then, can I get back to my reading?" Newt asked politely, uncaring that he was having a conversation with a dog.

Sirius panted and made a mild whining in the back of his throat, prompting sympathy from Newt.

"How about I read it out loud?" Newt suggested, stroking the side of the black dog's face tenderly. "Would you like that, boy?"

Padfoot's tail swung back and forth with excitement as he made a sound of approval. The Hufflepuff laughed to himself, taken with the dog's seemingly endearing nature, and picked up his copy of Slaughterhouse Five and began to read it to the animal. Sirius curled up beside the man resting against the trunk of the tree as Newt's voice lulled him into a state of serenity.

Newt propped open his book with one hand as the other absent-mindedly stroked at the dog's coal fur. Padfoot was never too big on reading, especially muggle literature, but the way Newt read made Sirius appreciate it a bit more. Admittedly, Sirius was drifting in and out of listening, his attention span weakened by the fact that he was in his Animagus form, but every so often a passage or two caught his ear.

"Billy had a framed prayer on his office wall which expressed his method for keeping going, even though he was unenthusiastic about living. A lot of patients who saw the prayer on Billy's wall told him that it helped them to keep going, too. It went like this," Newt recited, clearing his throat promptly. "'God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference.' Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future."

Sirius would feel Newt shift from time to time as the ginger peered down to stare at the dog nestled at his side, smiling faintly before continuing.

"And Lot's wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human. So she was turned into a pillar of salt. So it goes," Newt read, a hint of sorrow in his voice.

As the afternoon slowly stretched on and Padfoot lay beside Newt, curled up in a ball of warmth nestled into the ginger, Newt's voice slowed and his yawns multiplied.

"All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I've said before, bugs in amber," Newt murmured out before nodding off under the isolated tree with the friendly dog practically burrowed in his lap.

Padfoot sensed the stillness of Newt's hand and the way his breathing evened out and looked imploringly up at the drowsy Hufflepuff. When Sirius was absolutely sure that Newt was fast asleep, he transformed back into his old self, hating how the warmth left his body as his fur slowly disappeared. He kneeled down beside the resting ginger, noting that his book had fallen out of his grasp.

Sirius retrieved the book, spying the page it rested on. There was an amature drawing of a headstone, adorned with an angel and a passage reading "Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt". Sirius frowned slightly, a little upset that Newt had lost his place when he dozed off. He hated to leave Newt like this, but his fellow classmate looked so at peace and beautiful that he didn't dare disturb him. Plus, Sirius wasn't ready to reveal himself to the Hufflepuff just yet.

After all, Sirius was all bark anyhow.

Instead, Sirius pulled out a scrap of parchment he's been holding onto for weeks now in hopes that he would finally have the courage to give it to Newt in person. But alas, here he was slipping the note into Newt's book and tucking it underneath one of the boy's arms as he slept soundly. Sirius stared at Newt for a moment longer, tenderly stroking the curls out of Newt's angelic face before standing up and silently making his retreat back towards school grounds to catch up with Moony, Wormtail, and Prongs.

It wouldn't be until shortly after Sirius' departure that Newt would awaken from his nap to find that he had drifted off again and the black dog was gone. Newt looked around haphazardly, trying to discern what time it was before retrieving his book. He stared down at it, catching a glimpse of paper poking out of one of the edges and turned to the pages it was nestled between.

Newt puzzled at the folded note in his hands, not having remembered if he put it there himself or not. He swiftly unfolded the paper, curious to read it's contents if there were any at all, and rubbed at his eyes to banish the grogginess away from them. His eyes scanned the messy scrawl on the piece of parchment, prompting Newt to smile warmly at what the note said.

You can call me Padfoot.

"Padfoot…" Newt murmured thoughtfully to himself, before tucking the note away in his book once more.