Summary: (AU SB/NL) After purchasing a dog, Neville gets more than he expected: Sirius Black, in the flesh, sort of. Trouble is, Black's in hiding and he needs Neville's help and the only way he can switch back and forth from being man's best friend and world's worst criminal is with a kiss. Woops, sorry Neville.

Warnings: AU, book spoilers, mild cussing, Slash, and big age differences at the start. If this bothers you then don't continue reading.

A/N: I'm sure I read in one of the books that Sirius did know that the Longbottoms were tortured. I think he heard about it in Azkaban, so, for my story, we will pretend that he didn't hear of it because he left earlier than in the books. It is an AU, after all.

DOGBREATH

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

On Your Toes

Time is really important. It's something you don't have a lot of, and once you use it, it passes, and it is gone before you even know it. And you can not get it back, not matter how much you want to. But here's the thing: if you spend your time worrying about it, it's time wasted. It's not worth it, and almost everyone knows it. Sometimes you can't help it though, so as Old Woman unlocked the front door with a wave of her bony hand, Snuffles snorted, rushing into the house without a second thought, thinking hurryhurryhurry and ohohohohohoh.

Snuffles turned, almost smacking into Neville as the boy ran to keep up with him. Panting and lifting his feet up and down in a sort of jig. He was worried, he was a mess, but he was elated.

He had gotten his memory back.

Now he could remember. He knew his name and his adopted family, he remembered his godson, Harry, and he could think back to a time where he had been a teenager in school with three of the best people in the world. He remembered their fatal destruction, and he remembered his mission. He was Sirius Black, a man with a cause, an animagus, and he lived to avenge.

As soon as Neville had shut the door to his bedroom behind Snuffles, had jumped up, trembling, and licked him straight in the face, hating the change more than he usually did. He stood up, fuming and trembling. He needed to get back.

"Shit…really of all the things that could go wrong!"

Neville took a deep breath, looking lost, "We're home. Well, we're at my house…"

"Christ," hissed Sirius, ranking his hands through his hair. "This is going to cause a lot of problems." He yanked his hands out of his hair and sat down lightly, crossing his legs at his ankles to slide down to the floor. He took a quick look at the room.

It was spacious, but the bed and dresser set took up most of the room. The walls were a white wash color, and they were empty, no posters or paints or anything to identify with. The place was spotless. There weren't even socks on the floor. And Sirius was willing to bet a great amount of gold that it was even clean under the bed.

"Oh."

Sirius took a look at Neville. He had a glum look on his face, and even though he was in his own room he was still acting like he was uncomfortable.

"Look, I'm sorry I exploded. It was a shock, you know?" Sirius tried to keep his voice down, willing it to be less harsh.

"No, I'm sorry. I should have left you there, with the Robinsons. I should have made an excuse or something. I'm not clever enough."

Sirius felt a smile tugging on the corner of his mouth, "Neville, you're just a kid. What could you have done?"

Neville sank to the floor, fisting his hands and digging them through the carpet. "I could have stood up to my grandmother. I could have told her that she was wrong for once. I could have convinced her that I wanted another pet, a frog or something, instead of a dog."

"And I could have eaten her shoes and dug through her ghastly purse and slobbered all over her, just to make her hate me," Sirius said, smile still held in place. "I overreacted, okay? It's not a big deal, mate. I can figure a way out of this. It's nothing to worry your little head about."

Neville's lips trembled, and Sirius wondered whether he was going to laugh or cry.

"I'll get out of your hair soon enough," Sirius continued, trying to reassure the boy. "You won't have to deal with me ever again."

Neville's face fell, and Sirius cussed softly, wondering what he had done now.

"Yeah…" Neville replied after a pause, licking his lips. "Yeah, Harry needs you now. I can understand. What can I do to help?"

Sirius laughed then, louder than he should have, making Neville jump. "Don't worry. I'm sure Old Woman can't hear us."

The boy frowned at him, straightening up and loosening his fingers. But at least he wasn't going to cry any time soon.

"I'm sure I can get back on my own. All I need to do is borrow your lips."

Neville blushed, crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window. "Okay."

"Sounds like a plan," but Sirius started drumming his fingers anyway, still nervous and wound up. "Any chance Old Woman will come in?"

"No," Neville muttered, still looking away.

"And your folks?" Sirius questioned absent mindedly, already thinking of his plans to escape and reach his godson, and then thinking further into the future and wondering what rat blood tasted like. So he was not paying close enough attention to notice that Neville paled.

"No. I don't think they would bother you."

"Good," Sirius smiled, some of the frown lines melting off his face. "Thanks for helping so much."

"It's my fault anyway," Neville said, biting at his lower lip. "I should have left you all alone."

"No." Sirius said. His expression was contemplative. "You assisted Harry a lot, I'm sure. What he's been through lately has to be tough. I think you've done us some good, Neville."

"I'm glad," and then Neville smiled a wobbly smile, and suddenly Sirius felt better.

They waited until it was dark to talk again, because of Neville's chores ("You have to mow the lawn, really? That's crap.") and Old Woman's careful eye on Snuffles. When night came Neville snuggled up in his bed, Sirius under it, his hair peeking out a little, just in case Gran did walk in. Neville was just falling asleep when Sirius spoke up again.

"I think I could stay, for tonight at least. It wouldn't be wise to leave so early, Old Woman would be suspicious, don't you think? And it's calm here," he paused, breathing in deeply. "It's nice and quiet."

When he wiggled out from under the bed a minute later, he found Neville asleep, a tiny smile curved on his lips, and he suddenly felt better.

"I hate it when people are sad too," he whispered, remembering what was said that morning in the car, before retiring under the bed once again.

In the morning, he woke early, and at finding Neville asleep he knew he had to leave immediately.

"Thanks kid," he murmured, pushing the hair out of Neville's eyes affectionately, not worried that he would wake up. "Whenever you need help, just remember about Snuffles here, I'm sure a kid your age gets into lots of jams."

He smiled, and brushed his lips lightly against the sleeping figure's own and left through the open window into the dark, tail wagging.