A/N: I meant to add in another scene at the end but tbh I was a little tired of working on this chapter without publishing it. So here it is! More to come soon!

"Professor?"

"Ms. Sinclair." Dumbledore smiled warmly. "My apologies for dropping by without notice but I'm afraid this is an unexpected situation. May we come in?"

"Yes, of course," she responded automatically. "You found Sniffles!"

The dog jumped up to lick her enthusiastically. Violet felt herself grin broadly and she bent down to hug him.

"Ms. Sinclair-" Dumbledore began once they were all settled in her living room (with tea and biscuits, of course) The image of her old headmaster sitting on her couch was not one she'd ever envisioned and rightly so since he seemed quite out of place in her boring house.

"Just Violet is fine."

Sniffles took a seat at the foot of Violet's chair, laying his head on her feet.

"He came to us rather eager to go back to you," the other man chimed in. "Apparently your signature lasagna is better than anything I tried to make for him."

"It's pretty much the only thing I can make so don't feel too bad." She shrugged, wondering why they were talking about the dog as though he were a person. She extended a hand towards him, scratching Sniffles with the other. "I'm Violet, by the way."

"Remus Lupin." He had a kind face and a solid handshake, she decided. Remus, unlike his companion, did not look out of place in her Muggle home, dressed in neat but rundown and patched up clothing.

"Remus was our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year. Though I'm sad to say that certain circumstances caused him to pursue other opportunities. He's also an old friend of Sniffles." Dumbledore gave another mysterious smile but annoyingly didn't elaborate.

"Oh. Oh! Were you his owner before? I'm sorry I never tried to find you. I just didn't think-"

"No, no," Remus assured her. "You're perfectly alright. I wasn't his owner."

Violet nodded, sending him an awkward smile. The trio sat in silence for several moments before she decided to nudge along the conversation.

"So, are you here because of Sniffles? Does this mean I can keep him?" Sniffles let out a happy whine as she scratched behind his ears.

"No, Ms. Sinclair, I'm afraid not. I would explain myself but Sniffles would be able to show you better."

Poor Remus looked highly anxious, tensed and sitting on the edge of the couch. The reassuring look he tried to send to Violet once he noticed her eyeing him curiously fell rather short of its mark, she thought sympathetically. Then again, she never really liked anyone who was great at masking their feelings; he seemed more genuine this way.

"Sniffles?" she repeated politely, allowing a tinge of confusion to enter her tone. Sniffles tugged on her sleeve, pulling her towards the kitchen.

"Perhaps you should stay here with us in the room." Remus's words sounded as though they were for Violet but he was staring directly at Sniffles. Sniffles let out a loud bark in response and returned to aiming Violet for the kitchen.

"Suit yourself." Remus rolled his eyes in exasperation and sipped on his tea.

"Um, I'm sorry, what exactly-"

"It seems as though he would prefer this to be a private moment for you," Dumbledore noted. "Don't worry, Violet, Remus and I will be right here if you need us. I'm sure this will come as quite a shock but he's not what you think he is so you have no need to be worried for your safety."

"Worried for my safety?"

"It'll be alright, Violet," Remus said reassuringly. "If you could just follow Sniffles, everything will be clear. Just remember that he's perfectly harmless."

I know, I've lived with him for months, she thought in irritation, but stood up and walked to the kitchen. Sniffles followed her, bumping the door shut with his nose.

That was odd.

Violet sat down at her table, reaching out to pet Sniffles as he padded over to her. Sniffles licked her hand before stepping out of reach.

And then he wasn't Sniffles anymore. A tall man stood in his place, watching her warily.

Violet's jaw dropped. The man ran a hand through his shoulder-length dark hair and then, in a completely unexpected move (well, unexpected after his transformation from dog to man), winked at her.

"Surprise."

Violet wasn't sure if she was simply blinking so much out of surprise or if she'd suddenly developed a twitch from the shock. "Sniffles?"

"It's Snuffles, not Sniffles." He grinned wolfishly at her, clearly enjoying her state of speechlessness. Violet could only gape at him, not registering his words for several long minutes. He waited patiently, smiling at her the whole time.

"Sorry," she finally said after swallowing hard. "Your name is… Snuffles?"

"Yes. Also no, it's Sirius, not Snuffles." He frowned to himself momentarily but then smiled sheepishly at her.

"Sirius, then," she repeated, letting the name wash over her. Her eyes couldn't stop roaming over his unfamiliar features; the surprisingly aristocratic cheekbones, the grey eyes, the wavy dark hair, the cheeky yet slightly nervous smile.

Except his face wasn't unfamiliar.

And then his disconcertingly good looks sparked something. (No, not that.) "Not Sirius Black!"

Sirius winced at her sudden shriek of alarm. Remus cracked the door open, his hands in front of him in a placating gesture.

"Violet, Professor Dumbledore and I can vouch-"

"Remus, go back. It's fine," Sirius spoke without taking his eyes off of her. Remus cast the two of them a long look before relenting and shutting the door behind him.

Sirius and Violet stared at each other. Finally Sirius sighed.

"Violet, I promise-"

She took a startled step back as he reached out. Violet hadn't realized she stood up at his transformation until just then. He froze at her flinch and winced himself.

"I'll tell you anything you want to know," he promised, dropping heavily into a chair. "But I swear to you that I did not kill any of those people and that I am not a Death Eater."

His tone was so vicious and filled with disgust at the end that even if Violet had not already believed his innocence from Dumbledore's presence, she would be swayed. Though trusting his intentions was another thing entirely.

"And as for coming into your home, I-" For the first time, his voice faltered before he straightened up and looked directly in her eyes. "I cannot apologize enough. I was desperate, as you can imagine, and I took shelter where I could find it. I just needed a place to hide for a few weeks before my living situation was finalized. But if I ever made you feel unsafe, I'm sorry."

"It-it's fine," she said, the words falling off her lips automatically. Don't make a fuss, she could hear her grandmother's voice warning her inside her head already. Everything is fine if you allow it to be.

"Really?" Sirius looked skeptical, narrowing his eyes to scrutinize her expression. "You're completely fine with this?"

"Well, it's definitely a shock," she allowed, tucking one hand into her jeans pocket and other fiddling with a loose thread on her sweater to hide how they were trembling. "But I suppose I can understand why you did it."

"Hm."

They stood there for a few beats of silence, Sirius not looking convinced and Violet refusing to meet his eye, instead staring past him through the window into her backyard. As awkward this was, she was thankful he didn't call her out on her voice cracking.

"Well, they'll want to make sure you haven't passed out or tried to attack me so let's move into the other room since you're perfectly alright." His tone was sarcastic. She refused to look any higher than his chin and simply nodded before they moved back to the living room.