"Okay, we're here."

Padfoot looked at the numerous cages. There were cats, other dogs, birds, rats (Arianna thought she saw him tense at the sight of them), owls, Kneazles, and even a few flobberworms in the corner. They were all sizes and shapes, too. He snorted as best a dog could and walked on.

Arianna shook her head. "Hi, Chestnut," she said softly, addressing a small brown speckled black Kneazle. It mewed back. Padfoot snorted again.

She rolled her eyes again and ignored him. She walked forward and set her bag on the register table. ""Okay, Sirius. Closet."

The dog gave her a look that plainly said, "Do I have to?"

"Of course you do," Arianna replied, opening the door. "Now scat."

Padfoot dropped his head and lumbered in. Arianna was sure that if he could talk he would be grumbling incoherently. She chuckled to herself and took her wand out of her bag. She used her wand to light up the "open" letters on the window and waited for customers to start trickling in.

~ * ~

Remus Lupin paced the rooms of his house. "I've searched near all of the Muggle towns Sirius was going to. Where is he?" he muttered to himself.

He was very worried about his friend. Sirius had left Remus' house a couple weeks ago to tell everyone else about Voldemort's revival, and Remus was sure he was supposed to be back by now. Also, he had heard about him getting shot by the Muggle. That was enough to make him start looking for Sirius. But he hadn't had any luck so far.

Think, Remus, he thought to himself. Sirius is most likely running around as a dog right now. Well, maybe some pet shop picked him up. I'll check Diagon Alley. I need to get some new robes anyway. Instantly, he felt a little better. He looked out the window.

I hope you're all right, Padfoot, my friend, he thought, smiling wistfully.

~ * ~

A short girl with a black ponytail was looking at the tawny owls in the corner. Arianna watched her out of the corner of her eye. Today had been a relatively slow day, and she was thankful, for it gave her a chance to think.

"Sirius…I want to trust you," she whispered to herself. "You're my big brother. I've always looked up to you. But…so much has happened. All too fast." She rested her head on top of her hands. "So much for a peaceful life. With a brother like mine, how can I ever expect life to be normal?" Arianna certainly could have imagined it, but she thought she heard a faint noise coming from the closet, like someone was pushing it. Sirius probably had heard her. Damn that excellent dog hearing, she thought to herself. She played absentmindedly with her hair, braiding the ends and unraveling it repeatedly. It was a bad habit from her childhood, playing with her hair when anxious. She looked up and noticed that the black-haired girl who was in before had left. And now, the door was opening, the entrance bell ringing, and a man was stepping in. Arianna dropped the strand of hair she was playing with the instant she saw him. He was fairly young, she could see, probably around Sirius' age, but he looked older, somehow. Like he had been through a lot at a young age. His light brown hair was even flecked with gray in some spots. And for some odd reason, he looked strangely familiar.

Her eyes followed his figure walk across the shop. He looked particularly interested in the dogs, though he didn't seem to find what he was looking for. Arianna watched him make his way slowly up to the counter. She gave him a nice smile, for up close, he looked very, very worried. "May I help you, sir?"

"Ah, yes, actually. Er…have picked up any…" he leaned close to her, "big black dogs, by any chance? Or seen any nearby?"

Arianna's blood suddenly ran ice cold, and she could have sworn that her heart skipped a beat. Was this man one of the Ministry workers after her brother? How did they know about him being an Animagus? She herself had only found out a few days ago. It didn't matter anyway. Arianna knew she had to keep a cool head. "No, actually, we haven't seen any. Sorry," she added, as an afterthought.

The man nodded, and made to leave, but suddenly, there was an undeniably loud scratching on the back closet door. Arianna nearly bit her tongue. Sirius! What was he doing? She smiled helplessly at the man, who was eying the door strangely.

Suddenly, Sirius started barking and growling from behind the door. Arianna had no clue what he was up to. The man looked as if he had suddenly realized something, and looked at Arianna. "Miss, could you please open that door? There's something inside, isn't there?"

Arianna gritted her teeth. It looked as if she didn't have a choice. She looked around the store, to make sure no one else was present, and then unlocked the door. Padfoot ran out. Arianna resisted the urge to kick the huge dog in the leg as it passed her. "You see, sir, it's just, er, a big dog of mine, and I— Holy…" she trailed off speechless as the man's eyes lit up and the dog ran to him. They embraced. Arianna, feeling slightly bewildered and out of place, went up to them and said. "Um, I hate to break up this happy reunion or whatever, but I have a feeling an explanation's in order, and it would work a lot better if we dealt with it in the stockroom then out here." Being careful to not let any of the doctors see the man or Padfoot, she called one of them in to take over the register for a little while.

The man and Padfoot followed Arianna out and into the stock room, which was crowded with new animal products, but otherwise, very secluded. "Okay, make it quick," she said. "I have a shop to run."

Sirius changed back into himself and managed to force his uncooperative bandaged leg into a position to sit. "Arianna, this is my old friend Remus Lupin. Remus, you remember my littlest sister, I presume?"

Lupin smiled at her. "Yes, I do, remember Arianna…so you are still around. After everything…you just disappeared."

Arianna's eyes widened, and she could only nod in reply. Lupin? The werewolf? Suddenly, without realizing it, she imagined him sprouting gray fur…those hands hardening into claws…

Arianna, what are you thinking? Don't you remember? Remus was the nicest of Sirius' friends! Arianna felt like a complete and total jerk. It was obvious all that stuff about werewolves was just bigotry. Remus Lupin was one of her brother's best friends, and had been for years. Lupin, however, was now concerning himself with her brother.

"Sirius! Have you been here the whole time? I thought Dumbledore told you to stay with me!" Lupin was talking to Sirius now, who was looking a little guilty.

"I'm sorry, Moony. He did, but as you probably already know…I got shot. It was pretty bad. My sister here found me, and took me in. And here I am. Well, that's the short version anyway." Sirius smiled wistfully.

"That's okay, Sirius. I'm just glad you're okay. You sent me on a wild goose chase, you know. I was thinking about owling Dumbledore…"

Dumbledore? Arianna thought curiously.

Sirius snorted. "I'm glad you didn't. That would have been mighty embarrassing. Look, Remus, could you help me out a little? I still need to tell a few more people about…you know. But, seeing as I'm a bit handicapped, not to mention under hostage," he stopped, clearing his throat loudly and looking at his sister, who rolled her eyes. "You'll need to do it. I didn't tell…" he looked Arianna appraisingly, who was still listening intently. "You mind?"

Arianna huffed. " Oh fine. I'll leave. Have your little boy talk." She stepped over a box and walked out the door. She thanked the doctor that has taken her place and resumed to leaning against the counter. I'd like to be part of that…she thought to herself, leaning slightly against the door. Dumbledore's alliance against Voldemort. Before, she had been too young. But now…

Well, it was obvious now that Sirius had not been lying about Voldemort and the Dumbledore's old crew. Remus Lupin seemed to confirm that. Arianna guessed that he was one of the people Sirius had mentioned that would "swear his story was true". She supposed she had to believe him. Arianna smiled in spite of herself. I should've known I could never have a normal life in the wizarding world. It's always changing!

~ * ~

Sirius and Remus finished their little talk rather quickly, and the door opened to reveal Remus and Sirius standing in the doorway. Arianna eyed them both wistfully.

She started sweating again. Oh, please, stop it! She nearly said this aloud. WEREWOLVES ARE NOT BAD, ARIANNA! QUIT ACTING LIKE THIS! Bitterly, she clenched her jaw to keep it from quivering. "H-Hullo. You two…finished?"

If Remus noticed her stuttering, he had plainly chose to ignore it. "Mostly," He smiled at Arianna. She felt queasy, but grinned stupidly anyway.

Sirius looked at his old friend anxiously. "So you can go tell them all about Voldemort right away? It really isn't too much trouble?"

Remus shook his head. "It's fine, Sirius. I'll tell them all, and as fast as I can, don't worry. This is part of my job."

Arianna stared blankly at the two. There was suddenly quite an awkward pause between the three. She looked over at Remus and felt anxious to do something nice to him…to ease her guilty conscience about being scared still. Her teeth chattered unpleasantly, but she spoke anyway. "Uh…Remus…well, it's almost the end of my shift here…if you like you can have dinner with us at my apartment or something…" she trailed off rather nervously.

Sirius smiled at the thought, but Remus shook his head again. "It's very kind of you to offer," he started (He's so polite! You see?) "But, I think I better get going now and alert those people." He waved at them. "I'll see you guys around soon, most likely. Bye for now."

"Cheerio!" Sirius called after him, as he closed the door. Arianna muttered a quick good-bye and tried to hide her obvious relief at Remus' decline. Sirius looked down at her, thankfully not noticing. "When does your shift end?" he asked curiously.

Arianna looked at her watch. "Actually….right about now. Clarice will be coming in to take the evening, so we can go home free once she's here." She looked at him. "You'd better turn back into a dog now. People may walk in any minute."

He nodded and moments later a black dog sat in the place that her brother had stood in seconds earlier. Arianna locked him in the closet again and walked into the infirmary to say good-bye to the doctors in there and do some other things. When she walked back out, sure enough, Clarice Grensky, a young blonde girl with dimples was at the counter, attending to customers. Arianna flashed a smile at Clarice and unlocked the closet, pretending to look for a broom. She managed to smuggle Sirius out of the store and walked down the street with him at her side. After walking down the streets in silence for awhile, Arianna took Sirius home.

~ * ~

Arianna crept inside the building with Padfoot, glad it was now dark outside so his color could be camouflaged. She guided the dog down the hall to her front door. Padfoot sniffed the door and looked up at Arianna expectantly, waiting for her to open it. Arianna swung it open with her wand. She stood aside to let Padfoot slip in first.

Suddenly, the door across from Arianna's opened. Arianna gasped in shock and tried to hide the big black dog behind her. Her neighbor, Bridgette Greene and her small daughter Karenza lived there.

"I'm gonna go ask Miss Newmoon, kay, Mum?" Karenza was standing in the doorway, her back to Arianna. She turned before Arianna could usher Padfoot into her apartment. "Oh! Miss Newmoon! Do—" She stopped suddenly and peered around Arianna's legs. "Is…is that a dog?" she whispered disbelievingly.

Arianna bit her lip. No use denying it now…she's just a little girl…I can convince her to keep a secret…I hope…She moved aside and Padfoot blinked in the light coming from the door.

Karenza gasped and giggled suddenly. She ran out and patted Padfoot's head. "Mummy told me we couldn't keep dogs here," she said, running her hands down his back.

Arianna smiled weakly. "Your mother's right, Karenza…we aren't allowed to have dogs here. That's why," she kneeled down so that she was the little girl's height, "why I need you to do me a favor. Can you keep this a secret?"

Karenza's eyes widened. "A…secret? That you have a dog?" Arianna nodded at her. "Even from my mummy?" Arianna bit her lip again and nodded. Karenza looked thoughtful for a few moments, and then grinned suddenly. "Wicked! Okay!" She patted Padfoot on the head again, and he licked her hand in gratitude. She giggled. "What's his name?"

Arianna blinked, then looked troubled. "Er…his name…" She looked down at the dog. Definitely not Sirius…Padfoot would sound a little odd, too… "Snuffles," she said at last, using the code name Sirius had told Harry, Ron and Hermione to use for him. Padfoot nodded in approval and nudged Karenza's hand, hoping to be scratched behind the ears.

Karenza laughed. "That's a cute name, " she commented, "Yes, Snuffles, you're the best dog in the world…"

Arianna could see from the grin on Padfoot's face that her brother was clearly enjoying all this admiration. She frowned and said quickly, "Well, anyway, Karenza, Pa—I mean Snuffles and I need to go inside our apartment now. You can come and visit Snuffles in my apartment any time you like, if you want. I think he'd like that," she added, looking at the dog, who was sighing contentedly, dog-style, of course.

Karenza smiled. "Okay, then. Cheerio, Snuffles! Bye, Miss Newmoon. Thanks for introducing me to your dog." She stood up and turned to walk away.

"Wait…did you want to ask me something, Karenza?" Arianna inquired, remembering.

Karenza looked puzzled for a moment, and then her face lit up. "Oh yeah! Miss Newmoon, do you have any cheese I could borrow for my new pet?"

Arianna laughed. "Sure. Come on in with Snuffles and me."

~ * ~

Arianna shut the door behind Karenza and sighed. "Wow. I sure hope she keeps this a secret…"

The dog nodded and reverted to human. There was a smile on his lips.

She glared at him. "What? What's so funny?"

He grinned. "Miss Newmoon! Oh, Miss Newmoon!" he imitated, sniggering a little.

She raised an eyebrow. "How is that funny?" Somehow he still has the maturity of a five-year old.

He cleared his throat and sighed. "Never mind. That's a cute little girl you got next door."

Arianna smiled. "I know. And she knows how to pet a dog right, eh?"

Sirius shrugged lightly, but he couldn't hide the smile on his face. "Yeah…she does."

"Good, " Arianna confirmed. "She can keep you company while I'm at work."

Sirius looked disappointed. "Does that mean I can't come anymore?"

"Yes," Arianna said. "It's too much work, trying to hide you all the time."

He shrugged again. "Fine." He suddenly grinned. "Hey, wasn't it great that we saw Remus today?"

Arianna nearly dropped the pillow she was holding. "Er…yes…o-of course." she said shortly, forcing a smile. He sighed and limped over to the couch.

"Well, I can rest a little easier, now that I know he's telling everyone else." He looked at his broken leg. "Ari…when do you think this leg will be healed?"

Arianna looked at it. "If you stay off of it and rest as much as possible, it should be okay for me to take the splint off in a few weeks." She suddenly felt a pang in her heart. What would happen when he got better? Would he just…leave her? She didn't want that…I'll think about that when the time comes, she thought to herself. Instead, she busied herself with preparing dinner for that night, and they soon had dinner together.

~ * ~

Some days later, Matt was feeling a lot better, and went back to work at the Magical Menagerie. He wanted to thank Arianna, somehow, for taking his shift that day…he knew it could sometimes be a hindrance to work on a day you were supposed to have off. And…well, anyway, the point was, he owed her somehow. He thought maybe if he bought her dinner…that was the best repayment he could think of…but….it almost sounded too formal that way. Almost like he was asking her out or something. And he definitely wasn't doing that…right?

Anyway, he figured since it was the only thing he could think off, he could give it a try. He opened the shop door with a resolve to call Arianna and tell her somehow...only to find that she was already there, counting money from the cash register. She looked up from her work when she heard the little bell twinkle and smiled at him. "Oh, hullo, Matt. Feeling better, I presume?"

He blinked, still astonished at her presence. "Er…yes…I suppose…" Oh, bloody hell… I didn't know I'd be seeing her right now! I'm not ready…but if I don't do it now…I may never get another chance like this…

Arianna laughed. "I'm just about finished up here…afterwards, I'll leave it to you. You're next shift, right?"

He nodded dumbly. "Um…" Come on, just spit it out! "Er…Arianna?"

She looked up again. "Yes?"

"Well, it's actually a good thing I ran into you here…I wanted to, er, thank you for taking my shift that one day that you did…you probably had other plans—" He scratched his cheek nervously and continued, "Anyway, I was wondering…canIbuyyou dinnersometimetomakeupforit?" Each word came out faster than the other, and he spoke in a rush, just so he wouldn't chicken out before the sentence was over. He hoped she understood, because he doubted he could say it again. Luckily, she had.

Arianna blinked at him, and there was an awkward silence between the two. As his already-low confidence sunk lower, Matt was just about to burst out that she didn't have to accept if she didn't want to when she said, "Are you asking me out?"

He cringed, but strangely knew how to answer. "Well, that's not really how I wanted to put it," he found himself saying, " But I guess…"

She laughed again, and Matt's heart sunk six feet underground. After a moment, she smiled and answered, "Sure."

His heart shot back up to his chest. "Really?"

"Yeah. Where and when?"

As they made plans and Arianna walked out, Matt felt like he was walking on air.

A/N: Thanks to Lady Lana, Lily Smith and flourishes for the encouragement.

Names:

Karenza- variant of "kerensa" which is Cornish for "love".

Bridgette- patron saint of poetry and wisdoem of Irish/Swedish mythology (Brigid) meaning "high goddess"