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Thanks to Alabaster Princess and hypnotic ink for beta reading.

Now on with the show.

29- I wanna be your dog

London, 27th December 1977

Dear Professor Steel,

I hope you had a merry Christmas. Thank you so much for your letter and the very interesting book. Did you really mean to insinuate that the Marauders are Animagi?

Yours,

Raven Lestrange

-o-

Anna called again the day before New Year's Eve. Apparently, Severus' father had plans to sell the house at Spinner's End, but was still hesitant because he needed his son's agreement in order to proceed and didn't know how to broach the subject. Admittedly, it was kind of difficult to handle those things when you're not on speaking terms, and thus Anna and Raven became the mediators in that matter. It was already obvious that Severus would not want to move into Spinner's End, so that wasn't the problem when it came to selling the house.

"Anna said, Tobias asked if you would like to keep anything of the old stuff?"

Severus sneered; he could live well without his oh-so-bloody-brilliant childhood memories. "Tell her to tell him I'm not interested."

"Anna said, Tobias said you might be interested in your mother's old books."

Ah, books were always a bait he simply couldn't resist, although he was still not keen on meeting neither father nor his mistress. "Tell them to keep the books; I will come and collect them one day."

There was a vague memory of mother reading those books to him. If he remembered correctly, they spoke of magic and held the promise of power, of his way to get out of that Muggle dunghill called Spinner's End...

"Wait!" He called out, all of the sudden realizing that they were talking about some old magical tomes which might be dangerous for Muggles to even touch. When mother had read to him from these books, it had never been for pure joy alone or because she was such a loving mother- instead, her sole intention must have been to pitch her pure-blood ideology to him. Well, she'd failed in that just as miserable as in being a caring mother. "Tell them to not touch the books."

Raven rolled her eyes and covered the microphone of the receiver with her hand before she turned to face him. "I told them so already. Merlin! Sev, I'm not totally daft! I know that magical books can be dangerous."

"I never said you're daft. Tell them we'll Apparate to Spinner's End and fetch the books tonight. He can still sell the house tomorrow- given than anyone in his sane state of mind is actually willing to buy it."

-o-

Eileen Snape would have had a fit, could she see her son now. Her books were stored away in a cardboard box in a corner of his room, still being untouched. Instead of seeking the company of well-established, traditional members of the wizarding society, he was hanging around with a group of Muggle punks, and he enjoyed it (well, at least as much as he enjoyed socializing with anyone in general).

Christmas holidays ended quite early this year. Only a few days after New Year's Day, they were already back at Hogwarts, back to a landscape beautifully covered in snow. Raven and Severus, however, weren't much impressed by the white beauty of the grounds. They were counting the days until the next full moon (which was unfortunately still more than a fortnight ahead), hoping that it wouldn't thaw so they could probably discover the footprints of some specific animals in the snow.

Both of them were excited on figuring out the secrets of the Marauders.

-o-

Los Angeles, 11th January 1978

Miss Lestrange,

use your brains and don't rush things. Avoid roaming the grounds at full moon.

Alice Steel

-o-

Raven kept that wise advice in mind. At full moon, Severus and she were waiting atop the Astronomy Tower, waiting for something to happen down on the snowy grounds. It was already long past curfew, when all of a sudden a group of three (three?) animals emerged from that tunnel below the Whomping Willow and started to chase each other around while heading towards the Forbidden Forest. All too soon, they disappeared from sight.

Severus let out a frustrated groan- although the moon was high up in the skies and its light was being reflected by the snow to make the night look quite bright actually, in the end he had been too far away to make out any of the Marauder's Animagi forms. He felt tempted to throw safety overboard and storm down the staircase and out the main front door just to see where they had gone...

Raven stopped him from overreacting (knowing how strong his desire was to get them expelled) by taking a tight hold of his arm. "Sev, don't! Whatever you're up to, just don't. It's much too dangerous..."

He stumbled against her and they locked eyes, which in some weird way was dangerous, too- he was so close and his eyes were so dark and his lips looked so very, very tempting to kiss.

"You're right," he said, spoiling the moment by pointing out that he wasn't a rash Gryffindor berk and that it had never been his intention to hurry after a group of animals; especially not if one of them was a dangerous beast, a werewolf. "We will wait until the morning and then we can still investigate their Animagi forms by exploring their footsteps."

It was a good idea, but kissing him would have been an even better one. Raven sighed. After all, she was damned curious to find out what kind of animal nature was hidden behind their nicknames.

Alas, when morning dawned, it did so unnoticed since the sky had clouded over in the meantime, and those clouds were heavy with snow. And with each and every snowflake that was falling, their chance of analysing some animal footsteps in the snow was getting slimmer. by the minute. Soon, all of their tracks would be covered.

And yet, it was still kind of easy to spot those of a wolf, simply because she had studied them extensively by reading Hirsch's book on wolves over and over again.

Then, Raven discovered a track that looked similar to that that of the werewolf. "Hm," she mused, nibbling at her lips, "Padfoot could have been anything with paws but now I think he's a canine."

"I never expected him to be a golden lion anyway, despite him being a Gryffindor," Severus sneered.

"Right, there isn't anything feline in his personality..."

"What personality?"

Raven flashed him an amused smile. "Ah, you know what I mean."

"Felines have a certain natural grace, which Black most definitely lacks, and he is such a loyal mate to Potter that he can only be a canine. Besides, he acts like a bitch on heat when he sets eyes on you."

Severus couldn't hide his disgust, and she thought it funny that he sounded so possessive, almost jealous... Raven heaved a sigh and decided to not interpret too much into his quirks; they were just friends and he only loved Lily Evans. It was wiser to simply pay attention to the footprints in the snow before they were gone. And while mulling over what kind of animal Prongs might be, she suddenly spotted something else entirely. Some very tiny footprints, almost hidden beneath the fresh snow.

"Look at that!" She exclaimed. "We only saw three animals emerging the tunnel, but of course there had to be four- four Marauders, four nicknames, four animals. It's just that the fourth was too small to be seen from the Astronomy Tower."

"Indeed." Severus used a spell that caused a very gentle breeze to breathe over the snow so that the tiny footprints were visible more clearly.

Raven stared at him in awe- he was such a clever wizard, and probably he had just came up with that spell.

"It looks like a rodent's," he said, snapping her out of her reverie.

"Yep... um, you're right. So Wormtail is not a serpent. Actually, he's a much too creepy guy to be a serpent- well, at least in a world where there's no snake-like looking Dark Lord, since Lord V is definitely the most creepy looking guy and-"

"Lestrange, stop babbling."

"Sorry, Sev," she blushed slightly when she noticed that she was indeed babbling. Nonsense. Clearing her throat, Raven continued more focussed on the matter in hand. "Alright, so what do we get when we add the wormtail to a rodent?"

"A filthy little rat."

"Yeah, that seems to match with his character quite well. I'm wondering..." lost in thoughts, she fell silent.

"You're wondering what?" Severus inquired.

"It's just... had Pettigrew been Sorted into any other house, would he still be friends with Potter and Black- or is he just friends with them because he happened to be available, since they're all sharing the same dormitory? But never mind. What about the fourth track?"

Meanwhile, there were hardly any footprints visible anymore, due to the continually falling snow, and even when he used his spell again, all they could see was a vague imprint

"Well, as it seems, Prongs is an even-toed ungulate," Raven concluded, sounding not all too happy about the ambiguity of her observation, because even-toed ungulates were a group of animals that included pigs, camels, deer, giraffes, antelopes, goats and even hippopotamuses. "He could be... whatever."

"Imagine the way he's strutting the corridors as if Hogwarts belongs to him." Severus gave to consider. "And I guess he's got some sort of antlers."

"That rules out the hippopotamuses."

"True," he flashed her an almost smile before he ruled out camels and giraffes as well, simply because the first had no antlers and the second were too long-necked to not have noticed that from atop the Astronomy Tower. "I'd place my bet on some member of the Cervidae family. Perhaps a reindeer?"

"No, reindeers don't strut; they pull sleighs like that of Santa, and when I hear reindeer, I always have to think of Rudolph."

"Rudolph?"

"The red-nosed Reindeer- Sev, I'm sure you know that song."

Severus tried to imagine Potter with a big red nose and smirked. "I still believe he's some kind of deer, though. A stag."

"Bambi, the Prince of the Forest- well, that would at least explain his strutting around as if the castle belongs to him."

-o-

Snuffles was a dog that every witch, and even every Muggle girl would fawn over- that much was sure. Simply because he was so cute, always wagging his tail, being a good dog. He was irresistible.

Snuffles woofed goodbye to his friend (who was shaking his head) and made his way to Hogsmeade.

It was Valentine's day.

-o-

Raven and Severus had agreed to meet at the lake for a picnic; the day was too beautiful to spend it in the library. The sun was shining from a clear blue sky and it was already quite warm for February.

While he just wanted to quickly drop in at the bookshop, she visited Hogsmeade's only grocery to buy some fruit, bread, cheese and a bottle of wine. When she left the shop with a big bag in her arms, Severus was nowhere to be seen, but she saw a big black dog sitting at the next corner. It was wagging its tail as she walked by.

It was typical of Severus to forget time when he was in a bookshop, so Raven decided to proceed to the lake in order to wait for him there. She thought nothing of it when she noticed the dog was following her. It was typical dog behaviour to follow a bag that smelled of food.

Arriving at their favourite place at the shore, Raven sat down on a blanket she had enlarged, and lit a cigarette. The dog had lied down a short distance away but it seemed as if it was inching closer on its stomach when she wasn't looking.

"What do you want, you big flea-ridden beastie?"

The dog woofed.

"No, I'm not willing to share my food with you. Besides, mutts don't like cheese and grapes anyway."

The dog hung its head, whining. Then it grovelled closer to her and rolled all over in the grass until its belly pointed heavenwards and so did all four legs. It was a clear invitation for her to rub its belly.

Raven chuckled at its antics. The mutt gave her a pleading glance and started whining again, sounding as pathetic as only dogs could. Oh, it was so begging for her attention.

Finally, she deigned to give in and pat the dog's belly, which seemed to make it very happy. Much too happy, actually, because she could see now that it was a male dog. Ugh. Although she liked dogs in general, they were also bothersome creatures- especially when they stuck their noses in places that were off-limits.

Raven decided she had given it enough attention and pulled the bottle of wine out of the bag, opening it. The dog rolled over and was now watching her with its head between its paws.

"You don't like wine either," she told it.

As if the dog could understand her words, it woofed.

"I hope that means no. And now that we've agreed that there isn't anything for you in my bag, you can go and run to tell your master or mistress what a poor starving creature you are."

If she didn't pay the dog any more attention, it would certainly leave sooner or later- or so she thought as she pulled a book out of her pockets and opened it. But before she could focus on the text, she felt something moist touching her hand. It was the mutt's nose. Apparently, the black dog didn't like to be ignored. Somehow, it managed to shove its furry head underneath her palm so that she was almost forced to pet it.

Raven ruffled its fur. "My, you really are a nuisance."

The dog started making those funny whining noises again; they would have sounded almost heartbreaking, had she cared for it.

"I never thought that any dog could really make sounds as pathetic as Lassie."

All of a sudden, the dog sat up and growled dangerously. The very same moment, she heard Severus asking, "Who's Lassie?"

Raven jumped to her feet to welcome her friend and give him a friendly peck on the cheek. She didn't see the dog wiping its face with one paw, as if that scene was kind of appalling.

"Lassie's the world's- well, at least the Muggle world's- most famous dog; she's Collie from a TV series and she makes the same pathetic noises as that dog."

Severus frowned at the big black dog. "And how did you come upon that one?"

"Well, it followed me from the grocery. Apparently, our picnic smells delicious to the beast."

It woofed again, wagging its tail when glancing at Raven although it still appeared remarkably less friendly towards Severus. And suddenly it dawned upon Raven. There was something wrong with the dog's eyes for they weren't really dog's eyes. They were Sirius Black's eyes.

Immediately, she drew her wand and directed it at the dog. "Aguamenti!"

It was such a simple little spell, and yet so very effective. A jet of water shot from her wand and soaked to dog to the bone.

Severus was by her side now, muttering, "Incarcerous!"

Now the dog wasn't only soaking wet but also wrapped tightly in thick ropes. It didn't even know whether to whine or to growl as it bared its teeth at Severus, who was in a decidedly better position, though. He poked his wand into the dog's ribs, wishing he really were a down-and-dirty, Dark-Arts-loving wizard that didn't scruple to torture or kill innocent animals. Instead, he just gave the pathetic creature a well-meant warning.

"I know who you are, Black. I know that you and your precious friends are unregistered Animagi, but I believe that that knowledge is better used as a leverage against you instead of making it public." He grinned sardonically at the dog's miserable expression, for it was plain to see that even in dog form, Black understood him quite well. "And in favour for me not tattling your little secret to the Ministry or the Board of Governors, I expect you and your ill-bred friends to leave us alone. No more hexing in the corridors, no more naughty advances towards Miss Lestrange. Did I make myself clear? You're allowed to woof now."

The big black dog that was Sirius Black let out a piteously sounding bark.

Severus turned to Raven, a mischievous little smile tugging at his lips. "Is there anything you would like to add?"

"Can we keep him that way until school's out?"

The dog whined.

"You fancy having a flea-ridden, mangy mutt?"

"Well, thinking about it, he is rather pathetic."

"Very much so."

"And perhaps he is of better use for us when he's in his human form." Aiming her wand at the dog, Raven spoke the counter-curse and the ropes fell off the dog.

The beast had the nerve to growl at her, but since she held a wand in her hand there wasn't much he could do. Slowly, he retreated by crawling backwards, always keeping a sharp eye on the humans and baring his fangs. Of course, Black would make a big show even when he was actually defeated.

A shower of sparks came shooting from Severus' wand, making the mutt run; for a moment the smell of scorched wet fur was in the air.

"His backside isn't that gorgeous anymore when all furry and his tail is between his legs... um," Raven blushed ever so slightly and turned to glance at Severus. "I hope it wasn't your favourite pastime as a kid, setting sparks at the furs of animals to see if they do burn?"

"Some kids in the neighbourhood did actually do that, but I preferred reading a book over torturing animals," he replied in all earnestness and was surprised when Raven laughed. "What?"

"You're so cu... cunning... um, I mean, I was just kidding. I know you'd never torture innocent animals and I most certainly don't consider you singeing Black's fur as torment- I'd rather call it retaliation. Probably, I shouldn't feel that way and be less gleeful about it, but wasn't it just fun to see that usually so cocksure git so... so subdued now? And isn't it good to know we've been right about his Animagus form?"

"I told you he's a canine."

"Yeah, well, so you've been right. Anyway, had Professor Steel never send us that book, and hadn't we ever talked about Animagi, I might have actually liked the dog. I wouldn't have noticed there was anything amiss with it. What I don't understand, though, is why he came begging for my attention."

"Isn't that obvious?" Severus replied. "He made it quite clear- more than once- that he is... er, physically interested in you..."

"You can say he wants to fuck me. Yeah, I do know that. But why not try to get another rebuff by saying something stupid like he usually does. Why was he in dog form?" Suddenly, she shuddered. "Ugh, you don't have to reply to that, Sev."

"I am not familiar with the way the Marauders are ticking, especially not when they're in their Animagi forms, but given that they're always very boastful when it comes to their dubious talents, I hazard the guess they're so convinced of their own specialness and therefore everybody else must think them irresistible, too. It is likely that Black believes himself to be the cutest dog ever, when in fact he's naught more but a mangy mongrel. And since he's much too conceited, he may have thought he could win your acceptance by presenting himself in his Animagus form-"

"But to what point and purpose? He can't actually expect me to fuck him because he's such a cute dog- which he isn't- and besides, it's just gross to think I'd ever fuck a dog."

"Ahem," Severus cleared his throat, feeling more and more uncomfortable with the topic of their conversation, and even more so since he somehow understood Black's desire for her. Hell, there were times when even he couldn't ignore this strange yearning for physical contact- although he treasured her personality too much to ever reduce her to a plaything for his needs, like Black did. Severus would never propose to have a fleeting sexual encounter in a broom closet with her. After all, she was his best friend.

He sat down on the blanket she had spread over the grass and produced a book from his bag. "We really should start revising now."

-o-

Snuffles took off without ever looking back. Only after he had run about half the distance to the castle, he allowed himself to stop for a moment in order to shake his fur thoroughly, sending fountains of drops of water into the air.

"Awww, look what a cute dog!" A girl cried out in delight and she went over to pet him. Life wasn't that bad, even if things had gone so very wrong. Her friend joined her, and together they were ruffling through his thick black coat.

"Awww, you're so fluffy, aren't you?"

Ah, that went down like butter on a hot toast. So he hadn't lost his touch yet. He yapped and pressed his cool moist nose into feminine hands, inhaling their scent. Wonderful... they smelled so good, so ripe..

Evangeline Hamilton and Penelope Crews were two quite pretty looking sixth years, and they seemed to be captured by his charms. Perhaps, there was still an option to have a satisfying evening, given that both girls were actually in Gryffindor but had apparently managed to slip his radar until now. Or he'd simply been too fixated on that Slytherin bitch. Bah! He should have known better. No good would ever come from Slytherin house, no matter how damnable sexy she was.

o-

Hogwarts, 19th February 1978

Dear Professor Steel,

without rushing things- we're not completely daft, you know- we nevertheless managed to find out what you insinuated by sending that book. And still we're not rushing things but keeping that knowledge as a leverage against them.

Therefore, all is well here. Our nemesis are behaving kind of muted ever since, which is great because it allows us plenty of time for more important things, like revising for our NEWTs.

Only a few more months until we finish our education a Hogwarts.

Yours,

Raven Lestrange

-o-

Lily and Potter were an item now, that much was undeniable. It so hurt to see them together, and they always seemed to be together, holding hands, kissing. Each and every kiss was another stab to Severus' heart.

Once, she had called Potter an arrogant toerag. Now, she called him darling.

Once, she used to call Severus her best friend. Now, she didn't even talk to him anymore.

He wanted to warn her, to make her see that Potter was not as brilliant as she thought him to be. He wanted to tell her that her darling was an unregistered Animagus and that one of his best friends was a werewolf. But they didn't talk anymore and besides, she wouldn't believe him anyway.

His heart was breaking. Severus just didn't allow himself to wallow in misery- not when the NEWTs were only a couple of weeks away. There was still a lot of revising to be done if he wanted to do well.

And then, sometimes, he would remember Edie's words- '...forget about her. I know these sort of girls and they always mean trouble..'- until they became a nagging voice in his head. On the other hand, Edie didn't know Lily. Of course she was wrong. Lily was sweet and gentle and caring- well, but unfortunately she didn't care for him.

There were moments he actually wondered why (if Lily was so perfect and pure like he painted her in his dreams) she would date his worst nemesis of all people? The very one who had made his life a living hell ever since they had first met at the Hogwarts Express. He pondered that all over and yet he couldn't come up with a sensible answer.

'… the more ye adore them, the more adoration they demand and then they use ye and drop ye like a bloody hot potato when they don't need ye anymore, 'cause all they want is to climb the social ladder...' Edie said in his head. But Edie was wrong. Lily wasn't like that. Or was she?

Severus knew his only chance in life was to pass his NEWTs exceedingly well and then rely on that apprenticeship with Professor O'Flaherty to become a well-esteemed Potions Master and world-famous expert in potion's research; he would rid the world of all kind of diseases. Perhaps, Lily would finally recognize him then- although, there seemed to be a flaw in his train of thoughts. Lost in reverie, he was actually creating the same scenario in his head that Edie had spoken about. The one of Lily using people to climb the social ladder. Why couldn't she love him the way he was? Why couldn't Lily be a little bit more like Raven?

Things were so much easier with Raven except for the fact that she wasn't the girl he loved. And even if he could decide to fall in love with her, she probably wouldn't want him.

-o-

Honolulu, 27th April 1978

Dear Raven,

sorry for the long silence, but I've been to Asia for an assignment and only just returned to the States yesterday.

I'm pleased to hear how very well you handled the situation with the Headmaster's most favourite students and I cannot help but cheer at your so very Slytherin nature. Congratulation! You did well.

Take good care of yourself.

Yours,

Emma Steel.