Nocturnal thoughts 2

He lay there again watching his little godson. This one day alone gave him more stuff to think about than he had ever been used to in the last few years. Lily would've probably said that he never thought of much before anyways. She once said he only had his head so it wouldn't rain down his throat. He almost laughed at the memory, that is if he could do it in this form. He had always liked Lily's humor and her biting comments, even though she wasn't able to stand him or James for a long time but then again he and James had only themselves to blame for that.

Sighing, he stood up and then jumped into Harry's bed, just wanting to enjoy the boy's closeness. Although he was asleep, his little one put his arm around his furry flank. This was the kind of human closeness he had missed in these last few years. Sometimes he had hugged himself in his cell because he could no longer stand the loneliness. In recent years, he had even taken to stroking himself. Not to satisfy a sexual need, that was out of the question in the cold walls of Azkaban. No, it was simply about the feeling of not being alone. He had also closed his eyes to indulge in the illusion even more. Maybe that's why he suddenly liked being in his Animagus form so much, he was much more likely to get the physical contact he so longed for and Harry also seemed to be quite the cuddly type but that was no wonder, after all, with his relatives.

Sirius remembered some of the stories Lily had told him about her sister. How Petunia would always call her a freak whenever she did magic. She never had anything good to say about Snape either nor did he himself or James. He and James hadn't cared much about it at first until that redheaded box devil found out and flipped out. She had shouted at them both that they had behaved exactly like Petunia, now THAT was a cold shower, Sirius had felt really ashamed for the first time. They had stopped teasing Snape and all the other students at the end of sixth year, but they had only realized what they had done after Lily had told them off.

By then, however, it was already too late to apologize. The Slytherin had decided to go the other way. Lily always said that it didn't surprise her. After all, no one on the light side had ever stood by the boy.

Sirius looked at the boy again. Harry was so different from James. He looked like him, but that was it. The little boy didn't want attention, unlike his father who had wallowed in it. The more the better. That was also one of the reasons why Lily couldn't stand him and Sirius had been no different. He always wanted to be the center of attention. Everyone should admire them and look up to them. That is what they used to think.

But Harry? No, he almost crawled under the table when someone came along and praised him amongst the stars.

At Tang's request, James, with a shit tone of pride, would have said that he would of course take the curse off the subject and then he would have counted on their gratitude and taken all kinds of liberties.

Now that he thought about it. James and himself were probably by far the biggest idiots in all of Hogwarts during their school days.

His thoughts moved on to the bat sleeping in the next room.

When he smelled the guy this morning, he had lost all sense of reason and attacked him without thinking. It was only when Harry gotten him off of his victim that his brain started to work again. The look on Snape's face was funny though but that was probably mainly because he had listened to Harry. Somehow the dog in him came through. He wanted to please his master. Merlin, had he really just thought that? Hopefully that would never come out.

And the guy looked good. Okay, his hair was still greasy, but otherwise Snape looked really young. Probably a lot younger than himself. There had been no mirrors in Azkaban, Sirius couldn't imagine that for him the last few years had passed without a trace. Great, now he was already thinking about the appearance of that woodlouse. Although, the guy wasn't acting like a woodlouse at all.

'Professor', he still couldn't believe it. Snape was a teacher. Somehow he felt sorry for the students, well at least with Harry he hadn't exactly left a good impression.

Nevertheless, his former school enemy had really surprised him today. Well, there had been biting comments but also a lot of wit, from when he had asked the dog which of them Harry had threatened to castrate then to the thing with the book. Sirius would never have dreamed that Severus Snape would flee from a scrap of paper that was a little too big and all because his student had asked him to not destroy it. The two of them seemed to have a strange relationship anyway. At first they would be sneering at each other, then shortly afterwards they would be sitting on the bed and cracking jokes. It almost seemed as if the two of them were just trying to give the impression that they couldn't stand each other. He would definitely have to keep an eye on tha.

Luckily for him, he was going to the healer tomorrow.. Some of his teeth had been causing him problems for quite the time now. Satisfied, he lay down comfortably again and licked Harry's hair once more.

Yes, he really liked his dog form.

In a different room, a potions master was lying in his bed, also thinking about today.

When Dumbledore had told him to look after Potter, he had thought that neither of them would survive. After two days at the latest, they would have been hexing each other with the worst curses. After today's experiences, his image of the boy had changed dramatically. There was not, as expected, a spoiled brat who took advantage of the Ministry and went on the hunt for criminals.

Instead, there was a child who took in a stray and injured dog because no one else would take care of it, just like Lily. Then there was the respect for a friend's gift and this despite the fact that said gift wanted to nibble at him at the beginning.

The way the boy went about solving problems was also anything but heroic. Potter seemed to really think before he did anything, Otherwise he would hardly have been able to calm the book down. Severus would still like to trim the half-giant down to normal size. No one was chasing a book down his throat!

Potter's wit was also very much to his taste, dry as dust and pure sarcasm. Although he would never admit it, of course, the boy had amused him with his comment about teenagers.

What had amused him less was the obvious poor treatment of Potter's relatives, considering the statement about his first present. Severus knew that behavior. He had been through the same thing as a child. There was something hidden there, he would no longer want to be a master of his trade if he couldn't figure it out.

Then the scene at dinner. That pushy wizard and Potter's behavior. There was no trace of self-confidence or arrogance because of his fame.

The kid didn't even want to know what was written about him in the newspaper.

That was the next point. Why did the principal promise to keep him out of the public eye? He should have realized that this was impossible. After all, this was Harry Potter. Hell, the press even approached the teachers to find out about the boy's performance and some of them did tell. Minerva was almost gushing with excitement about her lion's flying talent and others praised him to the stars because he had killed a basilisk at the age of twelve. Severus was much more surprised that more people hadn't approached the child. But that would certainly change tomorrow. After all, they had to go through Diagon Alley with that giant mutt and while they were at it, they should also buy the school supplies for this year.

Great, he hated shopping and then with an involuntary celebrity alongside his dog that looked like a Grimm. If they all stood naked in front of Gringotts, they couldn't attract any more attention than they already had. Scowling, Severus turned to the other side. The only good thing about the whole thing was that he didn't have to worry about running around with a child star who was busy handing out autographs.

With these thoughts, the Potions Master fell asleep.