Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I only own Riley Patton. Any of the storyline that seems familiar, I most likely do not own.

Riley POV

I flopped on my bed after another long day of classes. Thank god the weekend was here. I got ready to calm down and relax until I remembered a certain caretaker and his cat.

"Bloody hell." I groaned, rubbing my eyes.

Huffing, I rolled back out of bed to go attend the torturous detention that awaited me. I grumbled and muttered curses under my breath as I left the dorm for Filch's office. I entered the room and hid my shock when I saw Sirius Black standing casually in the room as well.

"Now that the two of you are here," Filch began gruffly, "You will follow me to the trophy room."

Flich led the way and I sluggishly trailed behind him.

"Going quite slow today, aren't we Patton?" Sirius whispered in my ear.

I shouldered him away and quickened my pace, blowing hair out of my face as I did so. Sirius matched my speed, I rolled my eyes at his antics. I just ignored him completely after that. We got to the trophy room and Filch ushered us in, excited to make us start our punishment.

"They all must be spotless! No magic!" the crazy caretaker demanded.

He charged out of the room to monitor the halls.

"Irritating squib." I breathed.

"I couldn't agree more," Sirius announced.

I sighed and got to work on cleaning the trophies.

"So what'd you do to get into detention m'lady?"

"Curfew."

"Ah. Should've expected that. Now that we have some-"

"Stop. I don't want to be here, much less be here with someone as bloody irritating as you. I just want to be released as quickly as possible. So stop talking and leave me the hell alone."

"Feisty today, aren't we?"

"Black!"

"What! Ever heard the term 'Freedom of Speech?'"

"We don't live in America you twit."

"So?"

"Oh my god. Please just kill me now."

Sirius laughed at my annoyance.

"Shut up."

Of course, that made him laugh harder. I rolled my eyes and just continued to clean the trophy cups. After cleaning and polishing the current cup I was working on, I ran straight into Sirius' chest. Fighting back my blush of embarrassment, I apologized quickly and went to move away. Sirius held my waist so I couldn't maneuver away from him. He gently took the cup from my hand and put it back on the shelf.

"Riley, I need to tell you something." Sirius murmured softly.

I gulped, "Yeah?"

Before he could begin his next sentence, we heard the sound of Filch creeping down the corridor. Springing apart, I grabbed the cup that Sirius had set down and continued to work, trying to get rid of the blush that I had failed to fight away. Flich popped in, mumbled to himself, and then scurried away.

It must've been two hours before Filch finally let us leave. Sirius and I quietly made our way back to the common room. I stopped before the portrait, turning to Sirius.

"Oh. What did you need to tell me?" I asked.

Sirius looked around nervously, "Um. Nothing important. Don't worry about it."

I opened my mouth to retort when a third-year slipped past us and entered the common room. Sirius quickly followed suit. I shook my head and went up to my room. Lily was reading on her bed. Alice and Molly were nowhere to be seen.

"How was detention?" Lily asked, still looking down at her book.

"Absolutely dreadful." I groaned back, curling up on my bed.

Lily looked up at me amused, "At least change first."

"Fine."

I lazily dragged myself up and pulled out a pair of flannel pants and a black long-sleeved shirt. Going into the bathroom, I quickly changed and threw my robes onto my trunk. Grabbing my book, I started to read with Lily. Starlight started to purr and curled up by my feet. I rolled my eyes. Typical. Shifting, I got into a better reading position. Starlight sniffed and jumped off of my bed. Lily and I both looked up when we heard pecking at our window. It was a tawny owl, it looked quite familiar. I stood and opened the window. The owl flew in and landed on my bed. It held out its foot for me to take the piece of parchment. The owl hooted softly then flew back out of the window.

"That was weird," I announced.

"What does it say?" Lily asked, scooting to the edge of her bed in interest.

I sat on my bed Indian Style and opened the crumpled parchment. I started to read it aloud.

Riley,

There's something I need to talk to you about. Meet me by the lake at midnight.

"Are you going to go?" Lily questioned.

"I might as well," I replied.

"It's not a good idea."

"Yeah, well."

"Who's it from?"

"I have absolutely no idea. It's not signed."

"Huh. A secret admirer?"

"I doubt that highly."

"You never know!"

"Whatever."

"If I'm right, you owe me a Galleon."

"I'll take that deal."

Lily laughed as I grinned. She shook her head and I laid down for at least a couple hours so I could have a bit of sleep before midnight. I cast Muffilato around my bed so I wouldn't wake anyone when I woke.

Sleep plagued my vision when I finally woke up. It was eleven forty-five. I slipped out of bed and cast the reverse charm for the silencing one I had around my bed. Lily, Alice, and Molly were asleep. I snuck out of the dorm and out the portrait hole. Creeping down the hallways, I went towards Black Lake. There wasn't anyone around it. I shivered from the cold, my breath coming out in white wisps. Fall was quickly approaching. I thought about changing into Stripes, but I didn't want to freak the person who was meeting me out.

"You came."

I turned and my eyes widened when I saw Sirius leaning against a tree.

"Sirius?" I tilted my head to the right like a dog.

"Surprise."

I stood there shocked as he walked up to me. Stopping about two feet away, he looked at my confused face. His features were illuminated by the moonlight. I had to restrain myself from reaching up to trace his jawline. I felt my heart lurch. Pushing the thought away, I mentally scolded myself for thinking about that.

Finding my voice, I coughed and spoke up, "What did you want to tell me?"

"I finally figured you out, Patton."

"Meaning?"

"I know where you go at night. I know what you are."

"Yeah. I'm a witch. Big deal." I tried to ignore the fear crawling into my stomach.

"You're an Animagus."

"You're delusional."

"I'm right."

"Crazy, insane, not-"

"Stop denying it, Riley."

"How the hell did you find out?"

"It would probably be better to show you."

My mouth hung open in shock at what now stood before me.

The dog.

The black dog.

The one that saved me.

Sirius was an Animagus too.