A/N: I guess I'm on a roll...wrote this last night at about 3am...couldn't sleep. Anyway, I hope you like it :)
"I'm fine with the tea, thanks," Meredith said, tipping her glass towards the waiter and smiled as he walked back into the restaurant; she was sitting outside in the sun, enjoying the last remnants of the summer before it got too cold. She sat at the table, reading the Daily Prophet, scoffing at the latest dribble Rita Skeeter was writing about Harry.
Just as she was turning the page, out of the corner of her eye she saw a large black dog walk down the alleyway. It made its way to her and nipped at the paper playfully. Meredith smiled, scratching behind the dog's ears. "Harry said you were back in the country, don't you think that's a little risky, Sirius?" She bent down under the pretense of picking up a Galleon she had dropped.
The dog tilted its head and gave a very human look of confusion. Meredith smiled and got the attention of the waiter, "I've actually got to go, sorry," she said, getting up and setting a few Galleons on the table to pay for her meal. She beckoned the dog to come with her, and she walked back to the Three Broomsticks, sneaking the dog up to her room.
Once she got into her room and locked the door, she turned to Sirius with a huge grin. "You can change back now," she said, "I'd imagine that being a dog for a long time can get uncomfortable."
The dog trotted behind the bed and a few seconds later a man with long, black hair and tattered robes stood up from behind the bed. "How did you know it was me?" He asked.
"Well, it's hard to forget the dog who gave me this," Meredith said, pulling the sleeve of her robe down to reveal the scar on her arm. "I remember you helping me restrain Remus that night Peter escaped."
Sirius nodded knowingly, eyeing her with a slight flash of suspicion in his eyes. "And your name was?" He asked.
"Oh, it's Meredith. Meredith Douglas," she said, sitting down on the mattress next to where he was standing. "I was...with Snape, we sort of crashed the party in the Shrieking Shack...I'm the other werewolf, I kept Remus away from Harry that night, since he didn't take the potion."
"Ahh, that was you," Sirius said, nodding. "I thought I recognized you. That's why I approached you in front of the restaurant."
Meredith smiled, "So, how's it going, pretending to be a lovable stray? You look really thin," she said, grabbing his robes and stretching them tight across his front.
"Living off rats, mostly," Sirius said honestly, shrugging.
"That's a shame," Meredith shook her head, "well, I'll speak to Tom and tell him that I found the most wonderfully adorable dog and I want to keep him in my room. I'm sure he'll be fine with it," she grinned. "Are you hungry?"
Sirius nodded vigorously, "I am, actually." He said.
"Well, I'll be back in a few minutes," Meredith said as she left the room, locking the door with her wand behind her. She returned twenty minutes later with a steaming plate of chicken and potatoes in her hand.
"Thanks," Sirius took the plate from her hands and ate from it greedily, in an almost dog-like manner. Meredith smiled, sitting down on the other side of the bed, untying her boots and pulling them off her feet. Then she looked over her shoulder, completely at a loss of what to say to him.
"You know what I was thinking?" She said suddenly, turning to face him. He gave her a questioning look, but remained silent, so she took it as a cue to continue. "I could owl Harry and ask him when the next Hogsmeade visit is, and he could come here and you guys could talk?"
Sirius' face lit up in the first genuine smile Meredith had seen; it made him look years younger, and highlighted his old features that once made him look effortlessly handsome, but the years he spent in Azkaban had aged him in a way that was irreversible. "That would be amazing, Meredith." He reached across the bed and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Happy to help," she said, smiling. They sat in silence for a few minutes until there was an abrupt knock at the door. Meredith looked at Sirius, horrorstruck, before he jumped down behind the bed and jumped back up in his dog form. She smiled and walked to the door. "Remus!" She exclaimed, casting an eager glance at Sirius and opening the door.
"Meredith, Dumbledore told me you were staying--" his voice died in his throat as he finally noticed Sirius sitting on the bed. His gaze shifted from both of them, his mouth open in surprise. Meredith shut the door and locked it, then spoke up.
"Um, Sirius, I think its safe to change back," Meredith said, giving him a shaky smile. The dog jumped down behind the mattress and stood up as a human once more.
Sirius grinned at Lupin, "Hello Remus," he said, "Meredith found me wandering around Hogsmeade today."
"And he's...staying with you?" Lupin said skeptically, looking at Meredith.
"Well, we haven't really talked about it but, yeah, I thought he could, at least he'd be safe instead of out in the wild," Meredith said, shrugging casually.
Lupin bit his lip, looking from Sirius to Meredith with a suspicious eye. "Can I talk to you for a moment, alone?" He said, putting his hand on Meredith's arm.
"Sure," she said, shrugging as she walked with him out into the hallway. "What is it, Remus?"
Lupin bit his lip again, looking concerned. "I don't think it's a good idea for Sirius to stay with you here," he said.
Meredith scoffed, "Why not? He'd be safer here than living in the mountains and starving," she said, glaring at him.
"I just...don't think it's a good idea, he's not..." Lupin paused, unsure of how to continue. "When we were in Hogwarts together he...was known to be quite the uh....Casanova."
Meredith fought hard to keep herself from laughing out loud, her face turning pink. "Casanova? What is this, the nineteenth Century?" She grinned, amused by his word choice.
"Oh you know what I mean," Lupin said, sounding annoyed. He put his hands on her shoulders and stared at her.
"So what? You think he's going to try and seduce me or something? Look Remus, I'm just trying to help him. It's safer for him here than wandering the streets and getting caught by the dementors!" Meredith sighed, leaning against the doorway.
"That's not what I'm talking about," he said tiredly.
"Oh, what? You think I'm going to sleep around on you with him? Why do you always go there with me? That's so insulting," Meredith said, the expression on her face a mixture of hurt and anger.
"No, Meredith, no, that's not what I meant," Lupin said quickly, reaching to put his arms around her.
Meredith jerked her shoulders away from him and in one swift motion opened the door behind her and went back into the room, where she momentarily forgot Sirius was waiting for her. She fought hard to control her emotions but it was to no avail; smashing the mirror was a dead giveaway to her true feelings. "What's going on?" He asked.
"Remus says that you were known to be 'quite the Casanova' when you two were in Hogwarts together," Meredith said, fighting the urge to smile, "he seems to think that you staying here is a bad idea. He thinks that you're going to seduce me, or something."
Sirius was taken aback, staring at her with a confused look on his face. "And why would he be concerned about that?"
"Because Remus and I are..." Meredith paused, blushing furiously. "We're seeing each other." She grinned, which only exacerbated her embarrassment.
Sirius made a quiet noise of comprehension, nodding slowly. "Ah, I see," he said, "he was never very lucky with women in his youth. He was always really self-concious because of his...being a werewolf and all...never got the same attention James did. I'm sure you can understand what that feels like."
Meredith sighed, pursing her lips together thoughtfully. After a moment she spoke, her voice quiet and slightly shaky. "Actually, no one really knows about me being...a werewolf. The only reason I got the job at the Ministry is because I've managed to convince them that I wasn't bitten by a true werewolf," she said, smiling ruefully. "I suppose people are more inclined to believe a woman when she says she's not a monster, than accept the truth. It's always been a little bit easier for me."
Sirius nodded slowly, taking in what she had just said. "Thanks, by the way, for letting me stay here with you," he gave her a small smile.
Meredith smiled back, thankful that he had enough tact to change the subject. "It's no problem. I just wouldn't be able to stand the thought of you staying in some cave starving," she said.
"You are aware that if I'm caught, you could be charged with aiding and abetting a dangerous criminal...you could go to Azkaban for it," he said severely.
Meredith smirked, "I work for the Ministry, if they are even remotely close to catching you I'll know, and give you ample time to get away," she said, "besides, you're Harry's godfather, and he needs you right now...with the Triwizard Tournament."
"Ah, any idea how that happened?" Sirius asked.
"No, your guess is as good as anyone else's," Meredith shrugged, "although, Snape was quick to assume that Harry did it himself...he's so diluted, its ridiculous. Moody seems to think that someone put it in the goblet on purpose, in an effort to get him killed. Either way he's got to compete...'binding magical contract' and all that."
Sirius gritted his teeth in frustration, his hands grabbing at the frail cloth covering his legs. Meredith sensed his anger and without thinking, she reached her hand over to his and squeezed it encouragingly. "He's going to be fine," she said, smiling at him, "Harry is a very smart wizard, he can do it. I mean, look at all the other things that he's done: he took the sorcerer's stone from You-Know-Who when he was eleven, he saved that Weasley girl from You-Know-Who when he was twelve. He can handle himself."
Sirius smiled and squeezed her hand back, "He is an extraordinary person," he said, "just like his father."
Meredith smiled again, grabbing her plaid flannel pajamas from her trunk and walking into the bathroom to change. She returned with her toothbrush in her mouth, looking at Sirius with a curious expression, "I'll be right back, give me one-second," she said and Disapparated.
She returned moments later with a bag full of clothes and various toiletries, "I figured you could use some new clothes, and I brought you some shampoo and soap and whatnot," she said sheepishly, holding the bag out to him and blushing.
Sirius smiled again, taking the bag and looking inside of it. "Thanks, that's really nice of you," he said, "I'll just, go and," he pointed off to the bathroom and walked over, fumbling slightly with the door and disappearing behind it for a half an hour, coming back out looking decidedly healthier; still emaciated, but the hot water made his features come alive.
"These are my uncles clothes," Meredith supplied, "he has so much, he wouldn't notice if some things went missing," she smiled awkwardly, suddenly becoming preoccupied with a loose string on the bedspread.
"You're incredibly thoughtful, Meredith," Sirius said, fiddling with the sleeve of the shirt he was wearing.
Meredith smiled shyly, "Its just how I was raised," she said, pulling her hair back into a ponytail and sitting cross-legged on the bed.
Sirius was about to speak but was interrupted by a huge yawn he vainly tried to hide behind his hand.
"Oh, here," Meredith grabbed her wand from the bedside table and with a flick of her wand a slightly smaller but still comfortable-looking bed appeared next to the original one.
"Nice wandwork," Sirius nodded appreciatively, pushing on the mattress with his hand to test the softness.
Meredith grinned, walking over to the door and locking it, as well as casting silencing charms around the room so they wouldn't be heard talking to each other. "Thanks," she said as she crawled into her own bed, setting her wand right next to her head on the bedside table. "Goodnight Sirius," she said, fluffing up her pillows and slamming her head on them. She waited for a response, but when she looked over at him he was already sleeping, snoring slightly.