N/A: Pure fluff on the difficulties of living in a tiny flat if your boyfriend happens to be an animagi.

Disclaimer: Remus and Sirius and their wonderful, disfunctional relationship are the property of J.

Paw Prints

There was something marvellously contagious about Padfoot.

James had once famously said that Sirius should make the change to his dog form permanent and sometimes, Remus just had to agree with him.

Admittedly, wet noses in the morning weren't the most welcome thing, and Padders did stink when wet, and chase squirrels, and took great pleasure in slobbering on Remus' books but the light in his big, grey eyes when he did was more than enough to curve the edges of Remus' lips into a smile every single time.

Their flat was never big enough for Padfoot. It was never big enough for Sirius. Sometimes, he would lie on the mat by the fire and whine until Remus opened the front door and let him out. He'd never understood why Sirius couldn't do it himself. Something about doggy dependency probably. Or not being bothered enough to get off his arse.

The door in question creaked open and banged shut and Remus looked up from his book and his warm spot in the armchair. Padders' muddy paw prints had slunk across the boards and there was Sirius, curled up and watching Remus with his big, grey eyes.

"You'll get the sofa muddy."

"Sofa's already muddy, Moons."

Remus arched an eyebrow. "Go and get some clothes on, Sirius Black."

Sirius stretched luxuriously and gazed down at his red boxers and one, odd black sock. "You know you like me better like this," he grinned, and winked.

"Your feet are filthy." Remus put his book down, and leaned back in the sagging armchair. "And you smell like you've been rooting through the bins again." He crinkled his nose melodramatically.

Sirius regarded him for a minute and then a smile spread across his handsome face. "Shower then?"

"I walked into that, didn't I?"

Sirius had already stood up, and was holding out a mucky hand. "You always do."

"I'm not holding that." Remus looked with disgust at the proffered digits. Sirius gazed entreatingly at him, and then leant down and rubbed his nose against Remus'. "And I'm not kissing you, either." Sirius whined, doing a ridiculously good impression of Padfoot. "Shower, now!" Remus insisted, and frogmarched the animagi to the bathroom.

When Remus, wrapped in his fraying dressing gown wandered back into the living room to retrieve his book, the stink of rubbish and mud and ancient rainwater was lording over the room. He sighed, and eyed the paw prints trodden into the old wood boards maliciously. He wished, just occasionally, the Sirius had charged into some sort of bird, or a goldfish, and then he wouldn't have to deal with this mess.

The image of Sirius the goldfish flapping around in the Forbidden Forest was too much for Remus and he started to chuckle.

Sirius poked his head around the door. "What?" He asked, which only served to make Remus laugh more.

"We could call you Wanda!" Remus giggled uproariously. "And carry you around in a paper bag!"

Sirius glared. "Whatever this is about, I'm not appreciating it."

"What are you going to do, flap at me?" Tears of mirth were pouring down Remus' cheeks. "You could bubble at Voldemort!"

Sirius pouted. "Right, I'm making coffee and I'm not talking to you until you calm down," he glowered in a highly offended manner.

"Watch out for divers!" Remus yelled after him, before dissolving into giggles once more.

Steam from the warm cup of tea rose up in front of Remus and pricked his, still slightly teary eyes.
"I still don't understand what that was about," Sirius muttered.

Remus just grinned. "It doesn't matter, Padders."

Lying against Sirius' bare chest and bathed in the glow of the fire, Remus sighed contentedly and decided it wasn't possible to be happier. The two of them lay, comfortable and warm for a long moment, before Remus' voice drifted, thick and tired onto the evening air.

"Sirius?"

"Remy?" Sirius kissed Remus' neck, and he smiled.

"I love you."

Sirius considered this, pausing in his trail across Remus' collarbone. "Even when I chase squirrels in the park?"

"Even then."

"Even when me and James tease you about that time when Xenophilius Lovegood–"

Remus cut Sirius off with a look. "God help me, yes, even then."

For a long time Sirius was silent, his face nestled in the crook of Remus' neck.

"Will you love me when you have to clean the paw prints off the floor tomorrow?"

"Course I will," Remus murmured, turning to face a slightly shamefaced Sirius. "Because you'll be mopping them up."