Title: Washing the Dog

Characters: James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

AN: This one appeared because I gave my dog a bath today. Sometimes it's just that simple.

Word Count: 662

James, if someone asked, couldn't really tell where the idea came from. It just hit him, straight out of the blue one day during a hot summer day, how odd it was that they hadn't ever washed Sirius in his dog form. As if struck by something James sat up straight. Pearls of sweat ran down his forehead and the muscles moved underneath his tanned chest as he turned around to look at Sirius whose hair was pushed back into a bun as he laid soaking up the sun. Remus sat in the shadow of a great tree and dark glasses covering most of his face.

"Oh Pads…"

Sirius held his hand in front of his eyes to shield them from the sun. "What kind of stupid idea do you have in mind now Prongs?"

"You love my ideas." James commented with a smirk. "And I was just thinking that you're looking like you need to cool down a little bit."

Sirius muscles flexed when he pushed himself up in a sitting position. "What did you have in mind?"

Remus had removed his glasses from over his eyes and were looking at them curiously.

"I was thinking that we should wash the dog." James said with a shrug.

Sirius let out a barking laughter. "That's a crazy idea Potter." He stood up and brushed any dirt from his shorts. "Let's do it."

Remus watched as Sirius transformed into the familiar black dog. "So, James what makes you think that this is a good idea?"

James' smiled at him as he pulled out the hose. "Nothing at all makes me think it's a good idea Moony. But it sounds like a lot of fun."

As it turned out washing a dog was hard even when said dog was an animagus. They had barely soaked in water Sirius black fur before he shook his entire body making fur and water fly uncontrollable around him. Both Remus and James laughed and to no avail jumped away from the wet dog whose eyes glimmered with amusement as he did it again just a few seconds later.

"You are never going to get clean if you keep this up Pads." James commented when he'd done it a third time and after that he stopped.

"Don't you look handsome." Remus laughed when they were finished. Sirius black fur was shiny and he shook his entire body every few minutes; a safe distance away from Remus and James who stood ready to lay down and relax again. "I almost prefer you in your dog form Sirius."

Sirius scoffed and turned his back on his friends to go lay down on the ground. James shook his head. "I think you hurt his feelings Moony."

Remus shrugged as he laid down next to James on the ground. "I'll apologize later."

James let out a sigh of content as the sun returned from behind the clouds and warmed up his naked chest. He ran his hand through the raven hair as he heard an unmistakable groaning that could come from no other than Sirius. James glanced at the fury shape in front of him.

Sirius stood on all four legs. His bum was directed straight up in the air, the tail wagging furiously, as he pushed his head and nose further into the ground. Luckily the black fur remained looking as clean as it had been before and water was still dripping from him.

"Are you okay Padfoot?" James called out and got given a bark in return. James gave him thumbs up.

"I still don't understand why you thought it was a good idea to give him a bath in his dog form." Remus murmured sleepily from the spot beside James where he laid on his stomach; his head resting against his arms.

James shrugged. "I never said it was a good idea. I said it would be funny to try and I was right. Plus, Sirius really needed a bath."

The end