Remus

"Sirius!" Remus called into the house. He was first up on the schedule, and was scheduled for every third Tuesday from now on. He had felt bad that someone had to tell him Sirius was lonely. Why did he have to be scheduled to visit his best friend?

Remus hadn't come to Dumbledore's demonstration of how well Sirius behaved as a dog; he already knew firsthand.

There was a great deal of scuffling upstairs, a few curse words from the house elf, and then Padfoot came bounding down the stairs as fast as four feet could carry him.

Remus stopped feeling guilty. He would make it up to Sirius. This was going to be fun.

"Are you ready to go, buddy?"

Padfoot barked once, excitedly, and bounced in circles, scratching at the door.

Remus attached the lead and opened the door. "Okay! Let's go."

The walk started out pleasant enough. The air was still cold, but not bitingly so.

At the end of the block, as they waited to cross the street, a group of children on their way to school asked Remus if they could pet his dog. Padfoot seemed to really love that. He nudged their hands when they stopped petting, and whined when they ran off, saying they'd be late for school.

They walked to Regent's Park. Remus bought some fish & chips from a shop near the park and sat on a park bench, feeding the chips to Padfoot and drawing disapproving glances from passersby.

They sat in the park for a long time, enjoying the fresh air and watching the people pass. Remus absentmindedly scratched Padfoot's ears. When Padfoot nudged Remus' knee, he said, "Okay. Let's head home."

As they left the park and headed back to Grimmauld Place, Remus thought that maybe he'd come back tomorrow to see Sirius. They didn't have to go for a walk; they could just have some firewhiskey and play exploding snap or something. As Remus mused and enjoyed this thought, something caught Padfoot's attention.

Remus noticed the mischievous gleam in his friend's eye a moment too late. Padfoot shot off after a squirrel, still attached to the lead, Remus hanging on for dear life behind him.

"Sirius!"

The icy walkways had been gritted, but were still slippery. Remus skidded along for a few feet before slipping backward onto the ground, the lead still held tightly.

"Sirius!"

The snow and grit filled up the collar of Remus' coat and started to trickle down his back. He let go of the lead and slid to a halt, lying on his back on the sidewalk.

A few moments later, still lying in the snow, his eyes closed, trying to think of what he'd tell Dumbledore, Remus felt a warm, wet nose nudge his forehead. He opened his eyes to see Padfoot, tongue lolling out, looking ecstatic, standing over him.

"Sirius, I am going to kill you."