A/N: Thanks for the kind reviews! :)

Underlined content from Deathly Hallows and property of J.K Rowling

Sirius awoke many hours later, refreshed but starving. He stood up on wavering legs and listened carefully for any sound of the Aurors. He heard nothing.

He slowly nosed open the cupboard door, and crept back out of it. The room was engulfed in darkness; it was obviously the middle of the night.

Sirius sighed. Time to leave.

He wasn't exactly disappointed. Staying in this house for the remaining week until 1st September hadn't really appealed to him much in the first place. Still, he had hoped to have at least someplace to stay in off the streets away from the cold and the damp and the stares of potential enemies.

Damn those Aurors.

He crept across the drawing room floor, footsteps muffled by the thick dust. His stomach growled with hunger. He'd had nothing to eat all day and half of this night and the previous one. He was going to have to sort out this food problem, he had to be in proper form when he found Peter; at the moment he was no match for a Flobberworm.

There then a small muffled scratching sound coming from the corner of the room and Sirius froze, his ears pricked up, listening intently. There was silence. Sirius relaxed slightly, it was nothing. A sudden flash of movement, something small running along the skirting boards, and something snapped within Sirius.

He pounced, his instincts taking over, his teeth snapping frantically.

He wasn't Sirius at that moment, he was Padfoot- he wasn't human.

His teeth sunk into something small and furry, he closed his jaws over the struggling form and it grew limp.

All of a sudden, Sirius came back to himself. He looked down in front of him. An enormous rat lay there, blood seeping from a wound around its neck.

Sirius blinked in astonishment. Had he done that?

Was he becoming more dog than man now?

He shrugged. A meal was a meal, even if it was a disgusting, raw rodent. He bit into it; surprisingly it tasted better than he thought he would, probably thanks to his canine instincts which seemed to be coming out more and more every day. Sirius pondered for a moment, if he spent so much time as a dog would he eventually become completely like one? Would he completely lose any traces of humanity?

Peter had been a rat for twelve years, how had that affected him? Sirius growled; it wouldn't have made much difference to his character. He was a stinking cowardly rat by nature.

He glanced at the remains of the rat on the drawing room floor. Pity it wasn't the rat he was looking for.

His hunger slightly assuaged, he crossed the room and poked his head out of the door into the dark corridor. He could hear nothing from downstairs. He stepped out of the room and onto the staircase. He'd have to be completely silent …

A niggling little thought arose in his mind at that moment, and he had the sudden urge to go up instead of down. He couldn't explain why, he just had to go upstairs. Ignore it Sirius he thought to himself. Your little impulses never get you anywhere except into trouble.

He hesitated. He shouldn't be wasting any more time; it was too risky, he might attract the Aurors … there were so many reasons not to go upstairs …

Sirius turned around and went upstairs. After all, he was a Marauder, and they'd never been good at controlling their impulses.

He went up and up, passing various landings without glancing into the doors that led off from them, until he reached the very top of the house. He emerged onto the familiar landing where two doors led off.

He glanced at the closest one with that pompous little sign:

Do Not Enter

Without the Express Permission of

Regulus Arcturus Black

Sirius scoffed. Git. As if that sign had ever stopped him entering before. He had no wish to enter now though; he had no desire to see evidence of just how much of a Death Eater his little brother had become.

Instead he moved across to the next door with the simple: Sirius.

He paused- did he want to enter here again after all these years?

He deliberated for a moment, but his curiosity got the better of him.

He moved towards the door and stood up on his back legs to try and move the handle, but his paws were too large and clumsy for the tiny door knob.

He fell back onto all fours, listened for anyone coming up the stairs, and transformed.

He reached out his hand, and turned the handle, for some reason feeling nervous. The door opened and Sirius emerged into his teenage refuge.

He almost laughed at how little had changed. The room was dusty, covered in cobwebs and coated in years' worth of dirt, but everything else was exactly the way he had left it- the countless posters and Gryffindor banners covering the walls as resolutely as ever. He smiled as he looked at them all again, the motorbikes, the Muggle girls … oh how that how had annoyed his mother.

One photograph caught his eye, the only wizarding one on the wall. Four teenagers, laughing arm-in-arm at Hogwarts, their faces filled with laughter, care-free.

A lump grew in Sirius' throat and he drew closer, transfixed. He remembered this photo, taken the day they had all managed to successfully become Animagi after years of study, laughing at their own brilliance, smug looks on their faces.

And he was there, that little coward, grinning like the rest of them. Anger boiled in the pit of Sirius' stomach. He had no right to be in this photo, he was the one that had destroyed that relationship, the one that had undermined the very reason they had all become Animagi in the first place- loyalty to a friend.

He tried to take it from the wall, to cut the little rat out of the photo, but it was stuck to the wall. Of course he thought. Permanent Sticking charm. It was rather ironic actually; he'd attached this photo to the wall back at a time when he was happy, was certain without doubt that this friendship would never end, and now here he was years later, planning to murder one of the subjects for the betrayal of another. This photo had been a statement to his parents of how much stronger and better he was than them. It hadn't exactly worked out the way he thought it would.

He turned away angrily, his eyes growing wet. He turned back again, deliberately avoiding Peter's face. He barely recognised himself, had he ever been that happy? And there was Remus, looking happy beyond measure at the level of friendship that had been shown him at a time he thought he would be abandoned. And James.

Sirius stared at his face for a long moment, taking in every detail. I'm doing this for you James, for your son.

He turned away again unable to look upon his teenaged happiness any longer. Peter, how could you have destroyed something that was so good?

A box on the musty bed caught his eye, and he frowned. That hadn't been there before.

He moved towards it, noticing it was covered by as much dust as everything else. It had obviously been here for years.

There was a sheet of parchment on the top. Sirius picked it up and read:

Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Personal effects of: Sirius Orion Black

Confiscated: 2nd November 1981

Relinquished to: Walburga Black (mother)

Imprisonment: Life

An odd feeling came over Sirius at that moment, which he wasn't sure he could interpret.

His own belongings; he'd wondered what'd happened to them. Of course the Ministry must have searched his property after his arrest. Why had they given them to his mother? It was well known that mother and son didn't exactly see eye to eye. More confusing, why had she kept them? It certainly can't have been out of any motherly love; the box appeared to have remained unopened. Why had she accepted his old belongings just to leave them in his old bedroom untouched?

Sirius shrugged, who was he to explain his mother's peculiar behaviour?

He opened the box to find it filled with miscellaneous junk from the place he used to live before that night his world had ended. A few books, some cloaks, the watch he'd received from Mr and Mrs Potter on his 17th birthday, a few spare motorbike parts and many, many sheets of parchment. But not what he was looking for: his wand. He sighed, it had been a longshot anyway; wands of criminals were kept at the Ministry until their release, or death.

It was startling how naked he felt without his wand in his pocket. He had a newfound sympathy for Muggles; how could they go around feeling so exposed all the time? His hand clenched on the knife in the pocket of his robes, then again, there was just something that much more tangible about a knife … as opposed to a narrow strip of wood, this exuded danger.

He began searching through all the old pieces of parchment, barely glancing at their content. They were old letters mainly, from various Order members. Occasionally phrases would leap out at him … regret to inform you the McKinnons were found dead last night … Dark Mark over a house in Hamilton … brutal murder of an Unspeakable … the world had been so cruel. Then again, that never changed.

He searched through again, and other phrases leaped out at him … did you really send a Valentine to McGonagall Padfoot? Thank Merlin you're not still at school, she'd have you in detention for a month! … had so much fun last night Padfoot, don't think anyone's ever managed to pull a successful prank on Dumbledore before! Ha! Did you see his face when … PADFOOT! LILY'S HAD THE BABY! Get yourself to St. Mungo's NOW!

Sirius chuckled at the memories held in his hands. Yes, there'd been laughter too.

Underneath a large box containing old potions ingredients, repugnant with age, he found a sizeable bundle of photographs. His breath caught in his throat.

He could clearly make out the photographs, despite the dim lighting. On top was a photo of himself, James and Remus at a Quidditch game, sporting magnificent banners and rosettes and clearly singing at the top of their voices. What game was this? Sirius could not remember. After so long in Azkaban, Quidditch seemed like such a trivial thing now.

Another showed himself, James and Frank Longbottom in the kitchen of James' cottage at Godric's Hollow, before James and Lily had gone into hiding. All three men were clutching Firewhiskeys looking joyfully happy. That had been the day both Frank and James had strolled casually into an Order meeting and announced both their wives were pregnant. The ensuing party had been chaotic to say the least, everyone just happy to forget all the other horrible things going on and celebrate in the new life that was shortly to arrive. This news coming so shortly after the news of the mass murder of a group of Muggles, well, it had been the perfect pick-me-up.

Another showed Remus on his birthday, being presented with a bottle of aftershave called 'Howl' with the tagline 'Release your inner wolf.' Remus was looking rather unsure of whether to laugh or not, whilst Sirius and James had no reservations, laughing wildly, tears running down their faces at the joke.

Tears ran down Sirius' face now, but of a different sort.

He flicked through the photos a while longer, lingering on some, throwing others on the floor, namely the ones with Peter in them. He found the one Lily had sent him just before she'd died, the one with Harry on his toy broomstick. He searched for the letter that had accompanied it, and read it several times through, feeling choked up once again, anger igniting itself once again at the mention of Wormtail, and how he'd seemed 'down.' Of course he did. He was planning to betray them wasn't he?

He looked at the photograph once again and laughed at the sight of the tiny black-haired boy on his broom. Did he still fly? Was he on his House team?

A car drove past the house at that moment, blasting out some loud awful music, and Sirius was jerked back to the real world. He should be going.

He gathered up all the photographs once again and placed them back in the box. He hated to leave them here, he knew he'd never have the chance to return for them, but it just wasn't practical. He was closing the lid on the box once more, when one last photograph caught his eye. It was himself, James and Lily sitting in the living room of their house. Harry was lying in a blue blanket, only a few weeks old, awake and smiling at the camera, his bright green eyes flashing out from his rosy face. He lay in Sirius' arms, with his mother and father sitting beside him. It was the day Sirius had been appointed Harry's godfather. He'd protested, saying Remus was the only one of them remotely mature enough to be responsible for a child, but James had insisted. It had been the happiest day of his life.

Sirius looked at it one long moment. That was the day he had pledged to be a good godfather, to provide an ear to listen to him, advice to support him, to play Quidditch with him, to be there for him, and to do everything in his power to protect him.

Sirius looked closely at Harry's face. His godson …

He slipped the photograph into the inside pocket of his robes. He'd keep just this one.

After all, Harry was the one he was fighting for now.

He closed the lid on the box and turned his back on it, emerging back into the top-floor landing. He transformed, and began to pad down the staircase, listening intently. There were no sounds coming from anywhere.

Sirius began to get uneasy. Were these Aurors actually so dim-witted as to have no one on watch at night?

He stepped out onto the bottom floor corridor, his ears pricked up for any sound from the kitchen. He turned and stalked along the corridor towards the door. As long as he made no mistakes now-

'SMASH!' Sirius had collided headfirst with the troll's leg, missing it in the almost pitch darkness. Panic flooded through him, he had to have woken them up, what was he going to-

'Who's there?' A voice boomed from behind him.

Sirius crouched in the darkness, maybe if he stayed still … If only James and his Cloak were here …

'Lumos!'

The corridor was flooded with light and Sirius knew the game was up. He turned around slowly and squinted up at the man behind him.

He was young, probably the intern he'd heard earlier-what had been his name- and he looked more surprised than Sirius at finding a dog in the house.

He stared at Sirius bemusedly for a couple of minutes, his eyes wide, before he lowered his wand slightly.

Sirius tried to fight back the panic that had threatened to overwhelm him. He was a Gryffindor! Use your brain! He'd had plenty practice acting the dog, now it was time to put it to the test.

Sirius tilted his head to one side and gave a small 'Woof!' He began to wag his tail and bounced on his paws, trying to look as adorable as possible, despite the fact he was gaunt and filthy, with matted fur that probably stank something awful.

The Auror frowned slightly and moved forward a little, before lowering his wand a few more inches.

Sirius bounded towards him and rubbed up against his leg, whilst the Auror took a startled step backwards. Sirius looked up at him with his 'puppy-dog eyes', as James had christened them.

The Auror seemed finally to relax and put his wand back into his pocket. He hesitantly put his hand out towards Sirius, who thrust his head towards it, and the Auror began scratching his ears.

'Well well well, how did you get in here?'

Sirius responded with a bark, trying to look as innocent as possible.

The Auror surveyed him critically.

'You look awful boy. You been wandering the streets?'

He glanced behind him.

'Come on. You want some food?'

This time the excited bark Sirius gave was not faked.

The Auror grinned and retreated back to the kitchen. Sirius waited a couple of minutes before following him; after all he didn't want to make it too obvious he understood what he'd said. He raced after the man, all the time maintaining an image of energy and excitement, whilst his heart thumped in fear.

He made his way down into the basement kitchen, as gloomy as ever and the Auror crossed over to the table and withdrew a few slices of meat from a large rucksack lying there, and held them out to Sirius who accepted them greedily. The Auror then went to one of the old cupboards and brought out an old silver bowl with the Black family crest on it. He pointed his wand into it and said 'Augumenti'. The bowl filled with water and the Auror placed it down onto the ground, which Sirius lapped up gratefully; it was certainly refreshing to have clean water for a change as opposed to rain water drank from gutters.

The Auror watched him a couple of moments, and Sirius took care to act as 'dog-like' as he could, wagging his tail frantically, even though his heart was in his mouth.

The Auror laughed and called out:

'Oi! Dave! Come see what I found! Wake up you lazy sod!'

A muffled response came from the direction of the other side of the kitchen. A creak of springs, and a rustling of sheets told Sirius the other Auror was in a camp bed of sorts, apparently sleeping whilst the other Auror kept watch. Sirius wanted to look up to see this new threat, but he kept himself in character, lapping up his water with vigour.

'What's all the yelling about Roger? What've you- Merlin's beard! Where'd he come from?'

'Dunno. Found him in the corridor just now, knocked over that troll's leg.'

Sirius finished his drink, and sat back on his haunches and gazed up at the other Auror. This one was much older, and Sirius could guess, much harder to trick. But he seemed as startled as the other one at the present moment.

The older Auror, Dave, looked him over.

'A stray, d'you reckon?'

'Probably. Look at the state of him. He practically inhaled that meal I gave him.'

Dave gave Roger a derisive look. 'You've been feeding our rations to a dog?'

'Come on Dave! Where's your heart? Look at him!'

Sirius took this as a cue to give a pitiful whine, and look pathetic. Would a sad look and a soppy Auror really get him out of this?

Dave sighed. 'How did he get in?'

'Well … I left the back door open for a couple of hours this afternoon. Maybe he sneaked in then?'

'What the hell did you do that for? You could have let anyone in!'

Roger was riled. 'I had to open that door. That old stove hasn't been used for years and when I tried to cook your lunch on it, it filled the place with the most awful stench. I had to breathe!'

Dave shook his head. 'You're hopeless Roger.'

Roger rolled his eyes and said nothing.

Dave looked more closely at Sirius. 'You sure he's a dog?'

'What else could he be? A rabbit?' Roger responded scornfully.

'You know what I mean. Maybe he's an Animagi!'

'Can't be,' said Roger at once. 'There hasn't been any dog Animagi this century.'

'Maybe he's unregistered,' said Dave, though more uncertainly.

Roger rolled his eyes again. 'You overthink everything Dave. He's just a stray wandering around who saw an open door and an opportunity to get a good snooze in the warm.'

Dave looked exasperated. 'And why do you always dismiss everything? This house was enchanted so as not to be seen by Muggles, how did even see the place?'

'Because he's a dog, not a Muggle!'

'You know what I mean! He's not magical!' Dave protested, but it was obvious he was losing.

'And Hogwarts can't be seen by Muggles either and it's always crawling with animals,' Roger stated firmly. 'You are turning into Mad-Eye, you're seeing enemies everywhere!'

Dave threw his hands up resignedly. 'Fine! Do what you like! I'm not looking after that mangy mutt! If you want to feed him and treat him like a pet, go ahead. And don't ask me to clean up its mess!'

'Aww, Dave, you're giving me my own pet?' Roger asked in mock sincerity.

Dave shook his head and wandered off. 'You're impossible Roger.'

Sirius had to admit, it was mildly entertaining. It reminded him of the days he and James would argue with Remus when they proposed doing something stupid.

So, he was a pet now? Well, he thought, looking back up at the table where more food was waiting, he could live with that.

A/N: Please leave a review! Pretty please? :)