*grin* My first ever Harry Potter fic! I told myself I wasn't getting this heavily into the fandom, damnit, but it seems my muse had other plans. *glares at muse sitting on floor surrounded by plot bunnies and Uruk Hoppities* Anyway, for those of you in Lord of the Rings fandom, my other fics WILL be finished! Don't worry! LOL. This was just a ..er........bunny that wouldn't go away. *sigh* Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!

Title: The Curse of the Fleas
Author: TrinityTheSheDevil
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own them. 'Tho, after reading OOTP, I say JK Rowling shouldn't own them! Look at what she did! ARGH! *ahem*
Summary: Sirius.....Lupin.......flea shampoo. Need I say more?


Stars twinkled dimly overhead as a shaggy black dog loped up the steps onto a massive wooden porch. Tongue lolling out, he sniffed to himself, exhausted after his long run. Turning, the black nose nudged the front door open, and he let himself in.

In the relative safety of the closed curtains, Sirius Black turned back into his human form. Stretching slightly, he made his way over to the large overstuffed couch sitting by the fire.

"Nice run?" Lupin walked in, a mug of something sweet smelling in his hand.

"Definitely." Sirius hated being cooped up. Being on the run from both Voldemort's supporters and the Ministry, not to mention all the muggle authorities, kept him in hiding. His dog form was the only thing that allowed him to wander freely, away from the prying eyes of those that would harm him.

Absently scratching his head, Sirius reached over and snagged the Daily Prophet from the table. Dark eyes roamed over the words and the man scowled.

"Skeeter's at it again."

"And when is she not? What's she saying this time?"

"Apparently, the Ministry has accidentally released a virus that causes boils on very sensitive parts of the body."

Lupin snorted in his drink, chuckling silently. Looking over at his friend lounging back on the arm of the furniture, he blinked. Sirius was scratching vigorously, not even noticing it.

"Sirius......"

"Hmmm?" Sirius looked up from the paper.

"Are you okay?"

Sirius paused, slowly bringing his hand away from his head.

"Uh...*ahem*....yeah. Of course."

Lupin nodded as Sirius began reading again, and raised an eyebrow as the animagus tried to refrain from scratching his leg. Spotting a small dark speck on the couch, his other eyebrow went up, as the speck jumped away.

"Sirius......."

"Yes?" Sirius paused again.

"....................you have fleas."

"......What makes you say that?" Sirius said, with the deer-in-the-headlights look.

"Well, if your scratching wasn't enough, this," Lupin reached over and, with the tips of his fingertips, picked up something from Sirius' arm, "is enough proof."

Sirius watched as the small speck, a flea, wiggled around in the clutches of Moony's fingers.

"How can you be so sure that I have fleas? It could be you, you know, full moon was two nights ago. Or they could have just....jumped into the house.....or maybe..."

Sirius broke off as Lupin gave him a pointed look.

"Fine, I have fleas! It's not something unexpected you know." Sirius growled, and resumed his scratching.

Lupin sighed and grabbed Padfoot by the arm, dragging him towards the bathroom.

"Come on. We're getting rid of them before they get worse."

"We're?! No thank you, I can bathe myself!" Sirius grabbed onto the wall, causing Lupin to jerk as his stride was abruptly stopped.

"No, you can't. Not in your dog form."

"Well I won't bathe in my dog form then, will I?"

"Sirius, flea shampoo can't be used on humans......." Lupin slowly reached into his robes.

Sirius' eyes widened and his feet quickly back peddled towards the door.

"NO! Lupin! Don't..you..."

*CRACK*

Lupin sighed, and put his wand away. Sirius sat before him now back into his dog form. Lupin hated putting the spell on him, but the human was very stubborn, and he knew his friend wouldn't have willingly let the werewolf bathe him. Not that Lupin relished the thought.

Stepping forward, Lupin had to bite down a grin. He could just imagine what was running through his friends head at the moment.

As if on cue, Sirius started growling, slowly backing away again. The night colored fur stood on end, teeth bared, and the eyes narrowed. Lupin knew that his friend wouldn't hurt him...much...though. Wasting no time at all, Lupin pounced and flattened his friend to the floor. Getting to his feet and muttering a string of curses as Sirius tried to paw his way out of the strong grip, Lupin heaved the black dog towards the bathroom door.

"Sirius, be reasonable! I don't want fleas in the house, and surely you don't want the critters crawling all over you!" The ex-professor rolled his eyes as he got a very human like grunt in response.

Dragging the giant, dark fur-ball through the door, he cursed again as two paws clung to the edge of the wall.

"SIRIUS! Let...go!"

Reaching up with one arm, while the other remained wrapped around the dogs middle, Lupin grabbed the paws and pulled backwards. Kicking the door shut with his foot, Moony quickly uttered the spell to seal the door, before turning back to Sirius. A wave of his wand filled the tub with warm water, and he grabbed the dog shampoo, advancing on the mutt in the corner.

Lupin pounced again, catching Sirius before he could escape, and tried to throw him into the tub. The end result being both Moony and Padfoot ended up in the tub, soaking wet.

Lupin looked over at Sirius, who was covered in water, glaring at him.

"It's for your own good."

That was obviously the wrong thing to say, as Sirius leaned over and bit him. Now supporting a aching hand, Lupin struggled to hold down Sirius and give him a bath at the same time.

Thirty minutes later found Lupin finally finished, and the spell wearing off of Sirius. Looking up, Moony's eyes met those of a very pissed off animagus.

"Now Sirius..." Lupin backed away as Sirius stepped out of the tub, water pooling at his feet. "It was the only thing that would get rid of the fleas!"

Sirius' eyes narrowed dangerously, before he reached out and attempted to strangle his best friend.

"Sirius!" Lupin ducked and unsealed the door, before running towards the front door.

Sirius smiled slightly, having noticed something that Lupin didn't. A small innocent speck, had jumped from Lupin's shoulder, into his hair.

Sirius would give him a day. Enough time for the flea to multiply. Chuckling under his breath, he transformed back into his animal form, and gave chase.

Well, that's the end of that one! Feedback is greatly appreciated, and I'm currently trying to decide if I should write a slash version or not. *shrug* Many thanks to my wondeful beta, Karine, who spent that sleepless night with me reading OOTP, vowing to kill Rowling. *ahem* Not getting into that....not getting into that.........nope...*glares at Rowling*