Alright, Sirius oneshot.
Headcanons that are probably not accurate. There is a wizard who is the brains behind Azkaban. The unlucky soul is basically a prisoner himself, but he uses magic to charm the food to go to the different prisoners. The Ministry comes to check on very dangerous criminals every 6 months to a year. Other than that, the prisoners can't see anyone. Sirius Black was considered one of those prisoners. When the Ministry checks on a dangerous (considered dangerous) prisoner, the prisoner can't actually see them. It's like that Muggle glass window thing, where it's a mirror on one side and glass on the other. However, it's not actually a mirror; it looks like the rest of the cell, but the Ministry can see inside. Alrighty, Headcanons and stuff aside; let's get started!
Thunder rumbled ahead, and sharp, cold drops of water penetrated his fur, sinking deep into his skin. The dog rolled over, his dark fur stained darker with a few gashes that cut deep into his legs. His figure was gaunt, and it was clear to anyone who looked at him that he hadn't eaten in a while. Not that anyone was there.
The dog heaved himself upwards, yelping as he put too much weight on one paw. Gingerly, he tucked it inwards, and began limping forward, looking for a safe place to stay during the storm.
He'd been near a tree, but another dog had chased him away. Now, he walked down the cold, wet pavement of the street, rain pelting down on him.
"Mum, look!" he raised his head, surprised to hear a human voice. A girl of about nine years old stood, clad in a purple raincoat, staring at him in surprise.
"Megan! Don't just stand in the rain-" her mother began, then stopped, staring in surprise. She held firmly an umbrella with a music note pattern lightly imprinted on it. She also wore a coat similar to that of the girl's, but thicker and dark grey instead of purple - and the hood was down, showcasing her honey colored hair.
The girl giggled lightly, then beckoned with her hand.
"Here, doggy," she crooned, using her front two fingers to gesture. Dark hair kept carefully pinned inside her coat slipped loose, framing her face with two locks of brown hair.
Pausing slightly, the dog crept forwards, sniffing at her fingers and looking up at her with wide eyes. She stroked his head softly, then turned towards her mother with a smile.
"Mum, Mum, Mum," she chanted softly. "Can we bring the dog home?"
The woman paused again, her hazel eyes thoughtful. The dog realized, with a flash of recognition, that he knew her.
Her name was… Anne, right?
"C'mon, let's bring him back! We hafta show Alex, Draco and Charlie! And maybe Lizzy, too!" The girl - Megan? - grinned, and scratched behind the dog's ears softly. The dog leaned into the touch, tongue lolling out.
The woman shook her head, but her eyes smiled. "Let's get him cleaned up, Nutmeg, then we will see."
Megan puffed her cheeks. "Don't call me Nutmeg," she whined softly. She yelped when a drop of water was flicked onto her face, and her mother's face was vastly amused as the little girl scowled.
The rain was softer now, and the dog trailed behind the pair, feeling much more at ease. Megan splashed in the growing puddles, her rain boots kicking up arcs of water into the air. Sometimes, the dog noted, the large beautiful shapes would hover for a second longer than natural, then curve, splashing to the ground in a plethora of shining droplets.
The air smelled crisp and clean, and the tired dog's tail wagged with exhilaration. He hadn't felt so alive in months.
Megan walked backwards, her hands neatly held behind her as she thought aloud. "We'll need to introduce him to Stig… and give him a name! Hmm… what should we name him, Mama?"
The woman tapped her chin thoughtfully, shaking the umbrella lightly to get some of the water collecting at the top off.
"Well… I'm not sure, sweetie." She ignored the face Megan made. "We have an unusual name for our dog, plus, he could already have a name."
Megan gasped suddenly. "I know! What if we named him after a star?" She ignored her mother's confused face. "Like, y'know, Luna is named after the moon, and we have Stardust? And Solis?"
The woman sighed. "We're not naming the dog Stella."
Megan wrinkled her nose. "Noo! I mean, like star names! Like Polaris, or Orion! The stars you were telling me about a couple days ago, remember?"
Her mother thought for a moment. "I could see that. Probably not Polaris, though. It'd be a bit odd." she grinned, flicking the umbrella in Megan's direction. "You, however, will have to be the one to explain one Orion Spenser to your father."
Spenser. I definitely know that name.
Megan giggled again, then beckoned once more to the dog with her hand. They came to a stop in front of an old looking house at the end of the street.
Megan's mother cracked open the mailbox, peered in, grabbed something from the box, and shut it with a clang. Megan bounced on her feet as she waited, humming impatiently.
"Alright, Megan, bring the dog with you towards the house."
Megan turned around and lightly tugged on the dog's ear, pulling him gently towards the house. It looked rather small, all things considered, and the dog faintly wondered if the names she had mentioned earlier were just pets, not siblings as he had originally assumed.
This thought was immediately dissuaded when she threw open the door and yelled, "we're home!"
A mad scrambling sound caused the dog to take a quiet step backwards, but in the end, it was only another dog that was scratching furiously at the floor, trying to get to Megan as soon as possible. "Stig, you silly dog!" she laughed, letting go of her light hold on the other dog's ear.
The first dog cautiously sniffed at "Stig" who immediately sniffed back twice as eagerly. From behind Stig, a black cat hissed playfully, then walked daintily towards Megan. The girl lightly stroked the cat, then shoved her gently away.
The dog had no idea what to make of this. He decided, in a few seconds, to simply stand quietly, waiting for the insanity to end.
Another girl with long dark hair similar to that of Megan's walked quietly forward, stroking a kitten that lay purring in her arms. "Welcome home," she said, flashing her sister (sister? It seemed like a sister) a warm smile.
"Thanks, Alex!" Megan hugged her sister as best she could with the cat (who only squirmed a little before settling down again) and turned solemnly back to the dog.
"Orion, this is Alex. Sister extraordinaire, hoarder of cats, reader of books, and soon to be best witch the world has ever seen." Megan dodged a cat, laughed lightly, then darted down the hallway the door opened into.
The dog studied the house. Right when he walked in, there was a staircase that led upwards to a landing that had bookshelves lining the walls. To the left, there was a room full of bookshelves, tables, and a few chairs. To the right…
The dog internally groaned. More books.
This was going to be fine. Just perfect.
"Charlie!" he heard Megan yell.
A boy with light sandy colored hair darted down the stairs, leaned over the railing, and shouted back. "Yes?"
"We have a new dog!" she darted back to where the dubbed Orion was.
(Orion had no idea what was going on.)
The boy glanced at the dog, and his eyes brightened. "Are we-?"
"Going to show the dog to Draco as soon as he gets back from who knows where? Yes." Megan grinned.
"Y'know, I'm right here," a voice said casually. The dog peered over to the right, where he could see a boy coming out of yet another room and staring at Megan.
"Nutmeg! Take off y'coat!" called a new voice, and yet another child came running from the upstairs, her light blond hair fluffing up as she hurried downstairs.
"Oh, Lizzy, how could I ever forget?" Megan asked cheerfully, pulling off her coat and setting her wet boots to the side.
"If you hadn't guessed," Charlie whisper-shouted to Orion, "It's only Lizzy she lets call her Nutmeg. For everyone else, it's just, 'shut up, Charlie, you know I don't like that name'!"
He narrowly dodged the raincoat.
Alex came back, without a cat but with a towel, and started rubbing on Orion's shoulders. She sniffed at the wet dog smell. "We're going to need to give him a bath, probably."
All of the children groaned in sync.
"C'mon, maybe he won't be as bad about it as Stig?" Draco tried, glancing at the dog.
Lizzy shook her head solemnly. "Doubt it."
Their mother came in from the outside, taking off her raincoat lightly and stamping her feet on the welcome mat. "Well, it sure is storming - well would you look at that? All of you, here together." She stepped forward, ruffling Draco's hair, and it was obvious to the dog that he endured it only because it was her.
Lizzy rushed forward and gave her mother the best hug a six year old can give, and Anne (that had to be her name) lifted her up and gave her a kiss on the nose. Lizzy giggled, and Anne lightly set her down.
"Now, newest member of the Spenser family household." Charlie snickered in the back, and Orion heard a light slap and a low, "ow."
"I dub thee, Orion Spenser, until we either find you have or had an owner, or find you had a name before this. Do you accept it?"
To the surprise and delight of all the children, the dog lowered his head with dignity, and Anne placed her hands on both of his shoulders like her hands were swords and he was a knight.
"Rise, Orion Spenser." The dog rose, and promptly shook himself, which caused everyone to sputter as drops of rain and mud went everywhere.
"Ori-on," Lizzy laughed. She patted his head with one hand, then went in search of a towel at Alex's request.
Out of her pocket, Anne pulled a long, firm stick, which Orion instantly recognized. She lightly flicked it, muttering under her breath, "Scourgify!" The liquid vanished instantly, and Megan, Charlie and Draco clapped, all looking eager to see more magic.
Anne swatted in the air at them, looking vaguely sheepish. "Go on, you three - Ah, thank you, Lizzy." The three in question scrambled off a distance, but kept watching.
Yet another towel descended on him, the other one having been discarded, but this one was much softer. Orion settled into the softness of the towel. A low voice above him muttered, "Episkey," and he knew he wasn't hurting anymore. Closing his eyes, the large dog went to sleep.