One of the things I admired most about Camillia Llewellyn was her willingness to discover the underlying causes of her alcoholism. According to her psychiatric Healer, my friend's estrangement from her Muggle father, who was a heavy drinker, had contributed to her addiction. The police detective inspector had been devastated to learn about the magical world and his daughter's abilities. He'd previously believed in nothing he couldn't see or touch, and had become bitter to learn that the world was more than he'd dreamt of in his philosophy.

Cami had been sober for almost a year. Reading the taut expression on the older woman's face while she asked me if I had time for a talk, I knew that she was tempted to drink and needed someone to distract her until the urge faded.

"If you have plans with Remus, we could talk later," she said.

"No! I'm just meeting Remus in the park for fish and chips or whatever's handy. Care to come along and help us entertain Snuffles?"

Her face lit up. "Snuffles? My dream dog? I'd love to!"

Right then, I didn't care that my ultimate goal was to set Cami up with a wizard who wasn't a fugitive Animagus. If he could keep my friend away from Firewhiskey, then I'd allow Sirius, as Snuffles, to work his doggie magic. Apparating to a grassy dog park that was frequented by wizards and witches, we found Remus walking his four-legged friend. Stepping forward with a huge grin, Cami called, "Come to me, Snuffles! Come to me!"

Snuffles needed no encouragement, pulling the leash out of Remus's grip and bounding over. I felt like I was watching one of those Muggle telly adverts for dog food. Dropping to her knees, Cami embraced the dog and ran her hands along his ribs, saying, "What a good boy!"

I grimaced when she gave him a kiss. "Dog germs, Cami, how can you stand the dog germs?"

Looking more like a small black bear, my canine cousin blinked his eye, the incorrigible rogue. My friend laughed while stroking his neck. "I grew up with dogs. Mum breeds Corgis." She smiled while the dog pushed his body forward to encourage her to continue petting. "I like Snuffles better. I did a bit of research at the library while there on another case. I'm convinced he's at least half Newfoundland, and I found out loads of interesting things about the breed."

Remus stood beside me, slipping his arm around my waist and doing a little light stroking of his own on my abdomen beneath the short jacket I'd switched my robes for at the end of the day.

Cami chuckled when Snuffles dropped to the ground and rolled onto his back, giving her a pleading look. She gently tickled his chest between his front legs, telling us when the dog began to look almost hypnotized, "Besides being known for size and muscular strength, Newfoundlands have tremendous lung capacity and been known to swim great distances to save people from drowning." When she faced the dog and moved her palms up his chest, his body language said, "Don't stop that."

"Do they try and get a leg over any bitch that'll have them?" I asked tartly.

Snuffles whined. The susceptible witch gasped. "No, they're known for intelligence, loyalty, and sweetness. They're the ideal playmate and companion for children."

The smug-looking canine rolled over and got to his feet, making a happy throat-scratching sound when he was caressed behind the ears. Remus said, "He likes that."

I stared fixedly at Cami's fingers. "Erm…do…all the members of the canine family enjoy being petted like that?"

Hazel eyes narrowed. In a tone of discovery, she said, "You mean like canis lupis?" Grinning, she answered, "Yes, I'm sure they like their ears fondled. Canine courtship includes a lot of ear sniffing, licking and nibbling."

Trying not to blush while thinking about the things Remus liked to do to my ears with his lips and tongue, I asked, "Anything else?"

"Sure, the area in front of the tail is an erogenous zone, very sensitive. See?"

I saw the way Snuffles was raising his hind leg reflexively and making a contented sound. Cami gently pressed the webbing that connected his hind leg with her thumb and forefinger. The dog gave her a look that conveyed plainly, "That feels really good and I want more." She smiled. "When dogs are playing, they sometimes nip each other in this area, so we know it's sensitive, and Snuffles here appears to find it pleasurable."

I tugged Remus over to a nearby bench. Maybe I'd gone mental, but if I was going to have a wolf on my hands every full moon, I wanted to know how to keep him happy. I hadn't grown up with dogs or any kind of pet. They were untidy and expensive according to Mum, who had never allowed them.

"Are you really going to practice on me?" Remus huffed with laughter when I nodded. "Go right ahead, then."

Cami said, "The whole underside can over-stimulate, so I think we'll consider what I've demonstrated enough and go from there."

Snuffles whimpered. The rest of us laughed. Cami rubbed the dog's temple area. I copied her, disregarding my guy's low chuckle.

She marvelled, "He's got the most expressive eyes."

I looked into brown eyes that seemed to gleam in the twilight. "I know."

"I meant Snuffles." Cami snickered. "Rotating the fur around with your fingers on top of his head is nice for your friend. Make little circles, yes, like that, you've got it."

Remus's eyelids were drooping. I practiced rubbing between the ears at the back of his head. It may have hypnotised puppies, but the man whose hair my fingers were sliding through just sighed contentedly. The dog beside us on the ground heaved a sigh too.

"Lupum auribus tenere," Remus murmured.

I leaned forward and kissed him. "Ooohhh, Latin, what did you say about a wolf?"

He grinned. "To hold a wolf by the ears."

Playfully, I ran my fingertips around his ears and then held them while smirking. I gasped when he lunged and tugged my earlobe gently with his teeth. "Lupus pilum mutat, non mentum…the wolf changes his coat, not his character." He pulled back with a satisfied grin.

Cami said, "I see no further demonstrations of canine courtship rituals are needed." Smiling, she showed me all the areas a dog liked to have stroked or gently rubbed. The ones I could practice without shocking passers-by seemed to work on humans as well. She suggested one final thing. Remus sat up straight and shook his head.

"No. Thank you, but I am not about to take off my shoes and have the pads between my toes lightly pressed." Listening to Snuffles's happy throaty sounds, he added, "In public, with an audience."

I was glad to hear Cami laugh, and almost as thrilled when she offered to conjure stir fry back at her place. She lived a few blocks from me, and Remus was agreeable, so I was more than happy to have someone else fix dinner. I held Remus's hand while my friend walked Snuffles ahead of us.

"I thought you were trying to discourage her attachment to Sirius," he said quietly.

Sheepishly, I confessed, "She was waiting to talk when I left work. I didn't know how else to keep her from throwing almost a year of sobriety away, so I threw my good intentions out the window."

He kissed my cheek. Snuffles barked. Cami laughingly ordered, "Hurry up, Snuffles is hungry!"

I groused, "Who'd you invite to dinner, us or Snuffles?"

"Do you really want an honest answer?"

The smile in her voice made me shake my head. "No, I might never cadge you a free truffle again."

"Mmm hmm, like you held out on Lisa? Somehow, I'm not worried." Confidence rang in her tone.

During dinner, I noticed Remus enviously watching Snuffles chow down on steak while we ate chicken stir fry. He realised that I was observing and whispered, "Sirius always was a lucky dog."

While I sipped my coffee sitting next to Remus on the sofa, Cami demonstrated the different games I could play with my wolf. I said doubtfully, "My wolf is much too dignified to shake a paw or give me five."

"I'd love to play chase, though." Remus growled playfully.

"Could we do that one before you change? I'm rather fond of being pressed against walls and snogged now." I suppressed a giggle at his arrested expression. Watching Cami dart around the room with Snuffles in pursuit before she dropped down and began playing tug-of-war with a ball she'd transfigured out of a sofa pillow, I said after seeing her wait until her playmate was shaking his head in glee to yank the ball free and throw it, "I thought you were supposed to let the dog win."

"Not always, or he'll think he's stronger than you and try to take over." Cami smiled at the canine who had returned the ball. He stood looking at her soulfully. "You wouldn't try and dominate me, would you?" He barked and began licking her face before nudging her hand. Her smile faded into a wistful expression as she petted him. She told us, "Among all the other information about Newfoundlands that I read, an epitaph struck me the most." She quoted in a voice that wavered, "One who possessed Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity and all the Virtues of man without any of his Vices."

I didn't know how to react when she hugged the dog's neck and began to cry. Awkwardly, I asked, "What's wrong, mate?"

"Sorry, it's just…I keep a box at the Muggle post office, and today I got a letter from Mum, saying…" Cami took a shuddery breath. "My father died, and he left instructions not to tell me until after the funeral." Burying her face in Snuffles' coat, she said in a voice thick with tears, "He was glad that I'd stopped drinking before my liver gave out like his, but he'd cut me out of his life and didn't see the need for that to change after his death."

A trip to Wales to go spit on a grave sounded brilliant right then. I moved to hug my friend. "I'm so sorry, Cami."

She said, "I was all set to go get pissed when I remembered you telling me to come have a talk if I ever started thinking about taking a drink." Turning to the dog watching with big, dark eyes, Cami said, "Dogs don't care if you're a witch or a Muggle, they just want a bit of attention and affection. Why can't people be like that?"

I didn't know why humans had to make life so complicated. Remus said gently, "Regardless of the circumstances, I'm sorry for your loss. Is there anything we can do?"

"Would you let me borrow Snuffles for the night?" Catching the surprised look Remus threw my way, she said, "Tonks told me you're watching him for a friend who's out of town, so if you don't feel comfortable with it, I…I'll understand."

Snuffles barked and began wagging his tail while licking her cheek. Remus said uncertainly, "If the company would help."

"It would, so much, and I'd bring him over to Tonks's place first thing in the morning. You could take him back when you two go for a run." Cami's words spilled out quickly in her eagerness.

Puppy dog eyes were turned on Remus, who threw up his hands. "It's certainly fine by me." He glanced sideways. My smile was wobbly as I nodded and rose, following him to the door.

After Remus bid her goodnight, I whispered, "I really am sorry about your dad, about everything, mate. I wish there was something I could do."

She gestured to the dog pressed against her side. "You keeping me away from the pub I was headed for and Remus letting me borrow this big sweetie is more than enough."

I hugged her again and waited for the door to close before wrapping my arms around Remus as tightly as I could. He rubbed my back until the tears stopped rolling down my cheeks. I was so lucky to have good parents. Brushing tears away with his fingertips, he said, "You know, I enjoy watching the night sky when the moon seems to have vanished. The constellations shine brighter."

Sirius had his moments, but Remus was the sweetest man I knew. I said, "You never did tell me a bedtime story."

He feigned consternation. "I didn't? Well, there's a lounger on a rooftop nearby where I could remedy that."

"Is there a Little Red Riding Hood Constellation?"

Smiling with a determined wolfishness, he answered, "There will be."

The Warming Charm seemed unnecessary lying in his arms staring up at the stars. I pointed to a random cluster and said, "I think that's the basket Red was bringing Grandma."

Remus's smile flashed white in the darkness. "What big eyes you have."

"The better to see how wonderful you are." He made a sound of protest. I said, "I told Sirius that you were amazing, and I meant it." Clasping his hand, I brought it to my lips. "How did you cope with being a werewolf for all those years before Wolfsbane potion without resorting to drink?"

"Don't make me out to be a saint, pure and noble of heart," he said. "I've seen the bottom of many a bottle, and I've been bitter over prejudice experienced and opportunities lost. My friends helped me learn to cope. Afterwards, I had memories to cling to, and my Latin to remind me dum spiro, spero- while there's breath, there's hope." His hands cradled my face. "When I met you, my hopes were realised."

"Oh, Remus." I turned my head to kiss his palm. "You answered hopes I thought I'd thrown out with an engagement ring." My vision began to blur. "But they were just waiting for the right time and the right man."

His lips brushing, parting, and melding to mine caused a wave of feeling that my mind shied away from naming. Instead, I concentrated on showing Remus how glad I was that I'd picked up the wrong wizard and found a man whose embrace felt so right my entire body ached with the sweetness of it.

"Oh, Nymphadora," he sighed. The hands that had been stirring my senses now began soothing them. Remus brushed his lips across the top of my head. I listened to his rapid heartbeat slow into a steady rhythm. Using what I thought of as his sexy professor voice, he said, "See that globular cluster of stars? It points to the constellation Pegasus, the thundering horse of Zeus and carrier of his thunderbolts. Pegasus is only visible from August through December, and if you look down a bit to the left of the cluster, you'll see the nose."

I pointed. "There, I see it…and his flank…his leg…and that thing you ride on." His approving chuckle made me glad I'd paid attention when Dad was showing me the stars. I took his hand and gestured to a light yellow star on the "neck" of the winged horse. "That's you, the High-Minded Man."

"Are you accusing me of having my mind on heavenly bodies?" Remus's fingers trailed along my curves as teasingly as his tone. I wondered if he could feel the heat of my blush, hear my breath quicken. He inhaled sharply. A tense silence fell. He could. After a few minutes, he said, lightly squeezing my hand, "That star is named Homam. The Arabic name is Sa'd al-humam, the lucky star of the high minded man. I've always thought of the Pegasus legends, Perseus and Bellerophon as encouragement and warning."

"You're like Perseus, negotiating difficulties by rising above them," I said.

"I'd not want to over-reach myself and be tossed back to earth like Bellerophon," Remus agreed wryly.

"I know you're a Perseus. You've got the girl."

He chuckled, "Yes, I do, and I'm more than satisfied with my lovely nymph."

I didn't mind him saying that, smiling when Remus began to tell about a queen of the fairies named Nymphidia. Listening to his pleasant voice, my eyes slowly drifted closed.

In the morning, I experienced déjà-vu hearing, "Nobody answered my knock, so I went next door. Morty told me you two might be up here."

Cracking my eyes open to peer irritably at Cami, I growled, "Give me your coffee and nobody gets hurt." Remus chuckled, and after I consumed most of the mug, I smiled at both of them. "Good morning." A bark brought my attention to Snuffles. He looked…shiny… "Did you bathe him?" I asked incredulously.

"I couldn't let him sleep on my bed all smelly." Crouched down to hug the dog's neck and give him a kiss on the head, Cami told us, "He was a godsend, and if your friend ever decides to give his dog up, tell him I'd treat Snuffles like a king and love him forever, all right?" She smiled when the canine licked her faced enthusiastically. She said, "I've got an early client or I'd stay and pet the insatiable sweetheart. Thanks again, you two, and if you ever need a dog sitter or Snuffles needs a loving home, keep me in mind."

The moment the door to the stairway shut, Snuffles transformed back into a black-haired wizard whose handsome features were set in an expression of dogged devotion. Pulling a chair up beside the lounger, Sirius dropped into it and sighed.

"I think I'm in love."

A/N: I'll admit to being a dog person, which is why I'm so fond of Sirius! I read in an interview in which kids were asking Jo random questions, that one child asked if Sirius was a Newfoundland and she answered that he could be part, certainly, although she saw him as a mongrel. (talk about getting back at your pureblood family) That inspired my characterization of him, as did information I retrieved from the internet, heh, especially the epitaph. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. (I tried to PM everyone, so if someone doesn't want to have an account, could I have your email so I can thank you for the review? coughcupcakeswirlcoughcough) 40/16 Alaska Steele Amy Camillia Vincent Carnivalgirl cupcakeswirl die Loreley distempered DramaQueen04 ElspethBates Embellished Forgetting-To-Cry FNP Godricgal GraceRichie iamafairy ishandahalf kathaania krumfan MamaLisa NalaravatheRed NazgulGirl Neurotica paulalou plzkthx101 Quicksilver Foxx silliana Slipknot- 3113 Slytherin Love Goddess stuck-in-a-tree Spagetti O's sunny9847 Super Kawaii Lamb and WriterMerrin