Author's Note:

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Warnings: NA

This week's AU: Veterinarian!AU

Puppy Love

"Remus we're so sorry!" Lily blurted as soon as he walked into the examination room.

"Is he okay?" Remus blurted back. "Please tell me he's okay, James could only bother to text me your dog ate chocolate."

"James!" Lily chided, elbowing him.

"It's what happened!" James muttered.

Remus wasn't listening to him; his eyes were focused on the big black mutt lounging on the exam table, his leash dangling off his collar. His tail started wagging when he saw Remus and his tongue dropped out of his mouth, like whenever the big dope got excited.

"Oh thank God, Sirius," Remus said, entering the room. Sirius sat up, panting happily, as Remus ran a hand down his head and ruffled the fur between his ears. Sirius pawed Remus' arm and licked his face.

"What do I tell you about helping yourself to things from the fridge?" Remus said. "Not to do it, you silly pup. It's just a very bad idea all around…"

He looked over his shoulder, still running his hands through Sirius' shaggy fur, to talk to Lily.

"What did he eat?" Remus asked.

"We made you a double chocolate cheesecake as a welcome home surprise," Lily said. She was twisting her hands together and her big green eyes looked miserable. "He got into the fridge and ate about half of it."

Remus turned back to look at his dog. Sirius looked up at him, panting happily.

"Don't look so pleased with yourself, you dumbass," Remus said sternly. "I can't leave you alone with your favourite dog sitters to go to one mandatory work conference, can I?"

"I'm sorry, Remus," Lily said.

"It's not your fault," Remus said. "Dogs aren't supposed to be able to open fridge doors."

"Yours is just that special," James said.

"What did the vet say?" Remus asked.

"She gave him something to make him throw it up," James said. "She should be back any minute with…"

The door opened and a woman in pastel yellow scrubs and a white coat came in. Her hair stuck up in spikes and its magenta colouring was so piercing and even that Remus could have sworn it was her natural colour, even if there was no way it was.

"Good news," she said, shutting the door behind her with a kick. "His bloodwork came back nice and clean, which means he's out of the woods for any poisoning."

Her sapphire blue eyes turned to focus on Remus.

"Well hello," she said. "You must be…"

"Remus," he said. "I'm, umm, Sirius is mine."

"Right," she said. "I'm Tonks, I've been working on Sirius. The good news is that he should be fine. His blood work is clean, his physical was good—I don't see any reason to anticipate any major problems. Keep an eye on him for signs of toxicity in case anything got into his bloodstream before we induced vomiting. I've got a pamphlet with signs and symptoms here, should I give that to your two dog sitters or…"

"No, I can take it," he said. "Thank you so much for helping him, if something had happened to him…"

Remus felt himself blushing. There was no need to tell the vet that Sirius was his best friend in the entire world, and that Remus wouldn't know what to do with himself if something happened to his idiotic mutt of a dog. That wasn't necessarily the most well-adjusted and functioning first impression.

"It's nothing," the vet promised. She shot him a smile before crossing the room to go pat Sirius' head and run her hands up and down his neck. Sirius' tongue rolled right back out of his mouth—she had found his favourite spot ever.

"He's been my best patient today," she promised.

"He must like you a lot, he usually hates going to the vet," Remus said. "He's a real drama queen about it. Well, about most things really."

"He was very good today," she said. She turned back to Sirius. "Weren't you? You were a five star patient, really, you got all the treats for all the things…"

"We'll go handle the vet bills," Lily chimed up. "Since, you know… it was our fault."

"Yeah, we'll see you in the waiting room," James said. He wrapped an arm around Lily to guide her outside and winked at Remus before stepping out.

"Do you know how old he is?" the vet asked. "Your friends didn't, and I could add that to his file."

"I've got no idea," Remus said. "I know little to nothing about this dog. I was dragging myself home after a really unpleasant parent-teacher night and he started following me when I took a shortcut through an alley."

"That's funny," Tonks said.

"Yeah, I… I was going to call animal control, and really he made a mess of my flat the first night he stayed with me so I should have, but… I don't know. He grew on me. I've had him five years now."

"My dog's a rescue too," Tonks nodded. She nudged her head towards a wall where Remus saw her framed degrees and some pictures of a German shepherd whose fur swirled from a soft butterscotch to onyx black patches. "Funny how they just speak to you, sometimes—Kingsley was like that too. They've got quite similar temperaments, actually."

"Sirius loves other dogs," Remus said. "Maybe they could meet one day."

When he realized what he was saying, he wanted to melt through the floor and take it all back immediately. Tonks looked up and smiled.

"That might be good, actually," Tonks said. "Kingsley's a bit older, really only gets along with dogs that are also on the mature and gentle end."

"Oh," Remus said. "Well, Sirius isn't necessarily mature, you should know. Really, he's quite an idiot."

Tonks laughed and gave Sirius' ear one good last scratch before she turned away to grab a pen off her desk. She came back, took the brochure back from Remus, and scratched out the clinic's number from the back to scribble on a different one.

"Here," she said, handing it back to him when she was done. "That's my cell. Call if anything changes with Sirius or text if that dog park date really does sound good to you."

Remus blushed for real now, but he managed to produce something that sounded more like an "absolutely, yes."

Tonks smiled and gave Sirius one last rub between the ears.

"Alright, I've got to go deal with a far less pleasant constipated cat now," she said. She spoke to the dog sternly. "Be safe out there. Use your nose before eating random things that you find, yeah?"

Sirius barked and Tonks grinned before looking up at Remus.

"I'll see you," she said.

"Yes," Remus promised. She smiled.

He watched the vet leave before turning back to Sirius and shaking his head.

"Come on then, dumbass," he said. "Let's get you home."

With a grunt he managed to pick up Sirius from the table and put the big dog back on the ground. He held onto Sirius' leash loosely and they walked out of the exam room and to the waiting room where they found Lily and James.

"Hey," Lily said. "Since you cabbed here, we can give you a lift home."

"Order pizza for supper, since you missed the tail end of your conference…"

"Sure," Remus said. "And really, don't feel bad, guys."

"Oh, we don't," James said. "That vet was really cute, huh? Maybe Sirius is just trying to do you a favour."

"Now isn't the time, James," Lily muttered to her husband.

"But she was," James said. "Talked to Remus here for a long time, too…"

"Oh, shut up," Remus said, blushing again. But he couldn't bite back a smile as Lily fished the car keys out of her purse and they walked out of the clinic.

Shipping Wars

Word count: 1311

Ship (Team): Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks (Technicolour Moon)

List (Prompt): NA