Sirius

"Hey guys?" Sirius was lying on his bed staring up at the fabric hanging. His hands were tucked behind his head, and his legs were crossed at the ankles; the picture of relaxation. James was standing in front of the mirror, shaving or something. Remus was cross-legged, his back to the headboard, book in hand. Peter was blowing large, bottle-blue bubbles that floated up to bob around his ceiling after parting from his lips. Every now and then, a large snap! would sound as one of the bubbles popped, sending a blueish residue floating down to coat it's creator.

"Yes, Padfoot?" drawled James from his end of the room.

"How would you describe the perfect girl for me?" Sirius rolled on to his stomach, facing his three friends.

James turned towards him, half his face covered in thick white cream. "Based on personality analysis or previous experience?"

"Personality."

James put on a game-show host voice. "She's fun-loving and funny, loves animals, long hikes in the woods, or walks on the beach, she's-"

"A Barbie. Seriously, how would you describe her?"

"Before I answer that, would you tell me what a Barbie is?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm not in the mood to fill you in on Muggle facts. Answer the question."

James shrugged, turning back to his mirror. "I think you'd be the best judge of the type of girl you're looking for."

"Just for a start." Remus had put the book aside, and was now speaking. "She should be a good friend of his, who likes animals, especially dogs, not girly, with a voice frequency that doesn't destroy his ears, intelligent, sense of humor, and cooking abilities."

Sirius blinked. "That's more what I was looking for."

But Remus wasn't done yet. "She should be easygoing, she should fancy you, she should have dark brown hair, blue eyes, olive skin-"

Sirius realized where this was going a bit too late. "What? You think I like her?"

"No. I know you like her." Remus was grinning in that ever-irritating way. The problem was, he was right. But Sirius would die rather then admit it.

"You're mad."

"You're in denial."

"You need medicine."

"You-"

"Both need to shut up and tell me who the fuck you're talking about!" James had apperantly had enough.

"Don't you da-" Sirius was cut off by and eager voice.

"Olivia." Peter piped up. "Me and Remus think Sirius has a crush on her. 'Member that day in the meeting room after Sirius left?"

"Oh yeah."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sirius asked through clenched teeth. Remus rummaged in his bag, and tossed a wadded piece of parchment across the room. Sirius opened it up, and glanced down at it, the looked up, his expression a mixture of anger and wonder.

"How did you get this?"

Remus jerked his head at a beaming Peter. "It was all the rat."

"You annoying little-" he cut himself off as Peter waggled his tongue at him. Sirius promptly responded by flipping Peter off. Peter's appalled gasp ended the very mature exchange.

"So you admit it, then?" Asked Remus, disappearing behind the page of his book.

"Admit to what? I just asked a simple question, and you-"

"Gave you a simple answer."

Defeated, Sirius buried his head in his folded arms, and mumbled something into the sheets. "What was that? Speak up, Padfoot." Remus's smirk made it evident how much he was enjoying this.

"I do fancy Olivia, okay! Now will you stop being a gossiping pansy and shut up?"

"No need to announce it to the entire tower, Padfoot, I'm right here."

Olivia

All Hallows was fast approaching. (That's what I called Halloween, just because I liked the sound of 'All Hallows' better.) But, in any case, October 31 was becoming nearer, and with it came rain. Sheets and sheets of icy rain, sometimes accompanied by sleet created muddy puddles on the grounds, and harsh winds made the trees bend and buckle. I was watching this scene from the spot in the library I had claimed as mine, through the large picture window. I was taking a break from my aggravating potions essay, nibbling on a thumbnail as I scanned the gray grounds.

Adriana is sitting beside me, polishing up her charms paper and talking incessantly. When asked a question, I would respond in incoherent grunts, which seemed to satisfy her. I realized that one of my monosyllabic answers was required, and uttered a distracted "Yeah…"

"I knew it! You were always giving him that look, and-"

"Wait, what?"

Adriana rolled her eyes, exasperated. "I asked you if you liked Sirius. It's about time you confessed."

"But I don't! This is Sirius we're talking about; school player, nominated for Best Looking for the Seventh Grade characters, the person who, if you ran into two students sharing saliva in a dark corner, it is a given fact that one half of that group would be him!" I shook my head.

"And you wish the other half of that make-out team was you. Just admit it."

I shook my head. "You're a pill-popper if you think I like Black."

She smirked, singing, "Olivia and Sirius sitting in a tree. S-N-O-G-I-N-G!"

"'Snogging' has two 'g's"

"So you admit it!" She screeched. The quiet murmur of the library ceased momentarily.

"Shut up!" I hissed. "I do not like Black, so shut your mouth before Pince has our heads."

She just grinned at me. "You do too like Black. And I'm gonna prove it."

"Have fun with that."

"I will."

A few days later, on Saturday, the rain had let up and the puddles that scattered the ground had more or less dried, a handful of students were sitting outside, enjoying the last, pleasant day in a long time. Adriana, Louis, And I sat by the lake, the lovebirds cuddling or doing whatever it is couples do. I was watching the giant squid, flailing its tentacles in the warm sunshine. It didn't seem to mind the raw breeze that ruffled my hair, and caused me to tug the hood of my cloak up to protect my ears from the cold.

I saw a dog sniffing around the edges of the lake. He was large, and black, with long, thick fur that fluttered in the wind. I watched its progress along the banks, until it was a few yards away from where we were.

I whistled, and clapped, calling, "Here boy!"

The dog looked up, spotted me, and then bounded over. It stopped, one paw on my leg, it's wet nose sniffing my face. Chuckling, I ran my spindly fingers through the soft fur behind its ears, laughing as a wet tongue licked at my cheek.

"'Liv, are you sure that's smart?" Adriana asked.

"Yeah, you don't know anything about that dog." Louis chimed in.

"Oh yes, look at his ferocious tail wagging and menacing wet nose." I was currently scratching under it's chin. "He's probably just a stray from the village."

"Right." Louis said uncertainly. But his doubts were unnecessary, a the dog cocked his head, as if hearing his owner call his name, and then trotted off with a final lick to my cheek. I scrubbed at my slobbery face with a handkerchief from my pocket, and watched the mutt disappear behind a corner of the castle.

Sirius

After I changed back into my human form, and strolled back around the castle to sit along the wall next to Remus, who was reading as usual. He gave me an exasperated look. "Nice show you put on there."

"It was, wasn't it?"

"You should've just raped her right then and there."

"Ah, but we can't have her having puppies."

"Very true."

"She did smell wonderful." I adopted a wistful look.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I'm sure she did." He was used to this from James about Lily.

I smiled, remembering her scent; sharp and sweat, like an orange. I hadn't noticed it before, but my canine nose picked up more smells then my human one.

"You do realize that if you two do get in an involved relationship, you'll probably wind up telling her about your alter ego as a dog."

"You make me sound so criminal. Yes, I do plan on informing her of my puppy self. But that back there was just for fun. She knows how to treat a dog well." I stretched.

"I wouldn't know."

"I would hope not."

"But you do intend to ask her out?" Remus asked, brows furrowed.

"Yes; in the long run. In the meantime, I plan on getting something to eat. Want to come with?"

Author's Note: Yes, another short update. There's more to come before I leave, I promise. My posts recently have been a bit scatterbrained; I'm hoping to straighten them out when I get back. Again with the canin Sirius scene; I'm assuming it's obvious that I'm a dog lover.

While I'm talking, could somebody please tell me where the 'Her' in 'Hermione' went? It seems to be quite popular nowadays to have her known as 'Mione'. –shrug- Don't mind me and my rants, it's just something that's be bugging me recently.

You'll be hearing from me in the next few days, I promise. Happy Reading!

-Salvation-ala-mode

P.S. I meant to have this up yesterday, but fanfiction was being temperamental. I don't suppose anyone would be on at ten o' clock, but it was very frustrating for it not to be working. So blame fanfiction if, for some reason, you would have been able to read this that late.