The Consequences of Taking in a Stray

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything remotely related to Harry Potter. If I did…well, it certainly wouldn’t be mistaken for a children’s book by any means, that’s for sure.

*****
AN: I got a bit annoyed with the progress of this fic and decided to have the main villain show up earlier than I had planned in my draft. It took months of rearranging so don’t expect another update anytime soon.
*****
Snuffles was curled up on Julie’s bed, listening to the water running in the bathroom. He resisted the urge to terrorize the black cat that was glaring at him from his perch on a pillow. There was no way that was an ordinary cat. He’d give a galleon that it had kneezle blood in it somewhere. Sirius sniffed the fluffy comforter he was laying on and picked out Julie’s scent from those of the cats.
He couldn’t believe the trouble he had to go through to convince Remus to let him stay with this oddly eccentric muggle during the full moon. Tonks would be staying with Mooney during the full moon. She would take care of him before and after the transformation and Hermione had offered to stay in her animagus form to keep Remus company after he turned.
Sirius wasn’t exactly comfortable with not being able to stay with Mooney but it was the perfect excuse to find out more about this young woman who had brought him home without a second thought. Remus had made some smart remark that had something to do with obsession, sex, and voyeurism. If Sirius had bothered to listen he would have probably agreed with whatever his point had been. He really could not see why he found this muggle so fascinating. She wasn’t gorgeous or anything; more cute than pretty. Though, with her waist length curly brown hair and huge hazel eyes she could hardly be called ugly. She wasn’t even the type of woman he preferred. Curvy, big-breasted women were Remus’ type. That adorable little pout Julie had could possibly change his mind as well as the fact that her skirt had hiked up to her waist when she had been reading earlier. One leg had been bent at the knee, her foot resting on the arm of the chair. She had draped the other leg over that same arm, swinging her foot to some unknown tune. He couldn’t remember how long he had stared at her but, when he had finally glanced at the clock, Sirius was startled to find that she had been reading for four hours straight. Just his luck, another bookworm. What was so great about books anyway? Remus would probably be able to give him a list of reasons but, really, he could care less. He lifted his head and cocked his head in pure doggy fashion. He suddenly realized that the water had stopped. Julie would be out soon to get ready to go to sleep. Sirius just hoped she wouldn’t shoo him off of the bed.
Julie got out of the shower and looked over at the counter. Damn, she thought. She had forgotten her nightgown. She wrapped her hair up in a towel, grabbed another one to dry herself off then went over to her clothes closet in the living room that doubled as a bedroom and threw on her nightgown, which had been draped over the couch. She closed the closet door and went to lay down on her bed. Unfortunately Snuffles was on it already, tongue lolling out and watching her with huge doggy eyes.
“Snuffles, get off of there right now. I mean it!”
He gave a pitiful whine, got up, turned in a circle, and sat back down.
“Fine. You are lucky you’re so adorable. I usually only allow up to five cats on the bed. You are the equivalent of ten. Stay over that side, puppy-dog, or there won’t be room for me.”
Julie climbed into bed and curled up underneath the covers. It wasn’t long before she fell asleep to the soft sound of doggy snores.

*****

Loud pounding on the front door woke them the next morning. Julie quickly pulled on a robe hanging by the bed and went to the closet to get her baseball bat. Just as she opened the door there was a gunshot.
“Damn it, Julie! You changed the locks again. Where are you?” A young man appeared in the doorway reeking of alcohol and waving a handgun around. He glared at Julie through his messy blonde hair.
“Slept in, have you?” he sneered. “Well, where is he?”
“Get out of my house, Sean! I’ll call the police!”
“No, you won’t,” He aimed the gun at her. “Now, where is he?”
“Who?”
“That man who was here last night.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t LIE! I’ve seen you with that old geezer. He was over here with that mutt. Never knew you where into that shit…”
“Jesus, Sean, you’re drunk. Just go home.” Julie cried.
“Just go home,” he mocked. “You ungrateful little bitch. After everything you are still trying to get rid of me. Well, what are you going to do to make me leave? Your friends aren’t here this time.” The man raised the gun level with her head.
Suddenly Snuffles gnashed his teeth and leapt forward. Julie was about to step towards him to hold him back when he started to change. His body shifted and became that of a forty or so year old man with shaggy, black, shoulder-length hair and sharp features.
Sean and Julie were frozen in shock.
“Who…what are you?” Sean choked out.
“I’m Sirius Black.” The man said with a glare. “Though I really don’t see how that matters since you won’t remember I was even here. Obliviate.” Sean’s eyes blanked and his shoulders slumped. Sirius went over to him and punched him in the face. Sean fell to the floor with a loud thump.
“Oh my God. I’ve let a strange man watch me change…shit,” Julie muttered.
“So the fact that I can turn into a dog doesn’t bother you?” He asked with a grin.
“Well, that hasn’t quite sunk in yet, Mr. Black.”
“No need to be so formal. After all, I have seen you naked.”
“Why you son-of-a…”
Sirius held up a hand to silence her.
“Hold that thought! I just need to get an Auror to give this bastard a false memory. If I did it, well, the memory would probably make him go insane. ‘What a pity’. Memory modifiers were never my strong suit. I prefer charms and transfiguration.” He turned and walked into the kitchen. Julie followed grumbling about freaky weredogs who quote David Bowie. Said weredog turned to her with a puppy-dog look on his face.
“Is there anything for breakfast? I’m starving.”
******

Julie rummaged through the fridge.
“That lasagna doesn’t seem too old. We could have that.”
“Eeep!” Julie turned around to face Sirius who had been standing right behind her.
“Jeez, if you’re that afraid of me I’ll just turn back into a dog,” Sirius said with a pout.
“No, that’s okay. Lasagna, right? That sounds good.”
After she put the lasagna in the microwave she dialed the police.
“I would like to report a disturbance. My ex-boyfriend attacked me. He came over drunk and had a gun with him…. Yes, he fired off a shot at the lock on my door. I don’t know how he knew where I live…. Um, yes. I had a restraining order on him…yes…a year ago…March 25th. Yes, this is the first time that I know of that he has violated the restraining order. Thank you so much. All right. I will.” Julie put the phone down beside the answering machine and turned to Sirius. He was just finishing up a conversation with a hand mirror. She blinked a few times and then cleared her throat.
“The police will be here in a little bit.”
“Good. I’ll have the Auror out of here in a few seconds.” Sirius walked to the back door just as a loud pop was heard.
“Animangus transformation in front of a Muggle and an obliviate?” A tall, sandy haired man walked into the kitchen with a no-nonsense look on his face.
“Yeah. Could you erase the knowledge of the transformation?” The man nodded. “Thanks. Oh, you wouldn’t be able to send a copy of the report to Mr. Weasley in Muggle Relations, would you?”
“That’s no problem, Mr. Black.” The man turned to face Sean, took out a stick and aimed it at him. Julie could make out a few of the Latin words that were rattled off but it didn’t make much sense.
The man stepped back, put the stick away and nodded to Sirius. “I’m finished. If anything else happens just inform my division and I’ll send someone over.”
“Thanks. I owe you.” Sirius gave the man a grin and watched as he walked out the back door. Another loud pop was heard and Sirius gave a sigh. He looked at Sean’s still form, wrinkled his nose in disgust, and muttered something about taking the garbage out. Grabbing one arm he dragged the man out of the kitchen, through the front door, and onto the lawn. He came back inside a little more at ease.
“If you want me to leave I will. I just had to make sure he wouldn’t be a liability. A muggle witnessing a dog transforming into a person isn’t exactly something the Ministry takes lightly.”
“No, that’s okay. You can stay until Mr. Lupin gets back. I promised I would keep you out of trouble. It will just be a bit more difficult than I originally thought.” The microwave beeped and Julie took the leftovers out and set it on the counter. She gave Sirius a slight smile. “Thanks for stopping him. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I just…”
“Hey. It’s going to be all right. He can’t do anything in his state. Besides, the cops are pulling into the drive right now.”
******
Sirius opened the door as two police officers walked up to the front porch. Two others were walking over to the still form of Sean laying in the yard. One looked a little hesitant and glanced at the gun in Sean’s right hand.
“Call the ambulance, Dave. Have him checked out for a concussion. A toxicology report would be nice too. Let Andrew question the witnesses. Mark should be here soon to collect the evidence.”
The sound of a throat clearing caught Sirius’ attention. The officers were at the door. “We got a call about a …”
“Yeah, come on in.” Sirius motioned the cops inside and they all sat at the kitchen table.
“There is a man out there on the lawn; is that who attacked you Miss…?” The officer who spoke seemed kind enough, a bit young, but he held a confidence that reassured Julie.
“Julie McKee. And, yes, that is the man who… Sean…he didn’t have a key so he shot the door. No one was hurt; none of the cats were in the kitchen when…”
“What about you? Are you okay? If you need to go to the hospital…”
“No, no. I’m fine, thanks. Just a little shaken up. I’ll be alright.” It sounded to Sirius that Julie was trying to convince herself more than the police officer.
“Was there anyone in the house other than you?”
“Yes, Sirius was. He hit Sean and knocked him out when he pointed the gun at me.”
The cop looked over to Sirius. “You are Sirius?”
“Yes, Sirius Black.” He gave a smirk and offered his hand.
The officer’s eyes widened as he reluctantly shook hands with him. “Didn’t know you were in the country.”
“Well, I don’t see why either government needs to keep tabs on me, you know, considering I am innocent of all the charges.”
The cop gave a slight cough and looked a little uncomfortable. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. Ah, so this man, Sean, broke into the house and threatened Miss McKee and you punched him, knocking him unconscious, and dumped him in the front yard?”
“Yeah, that about sums it up.”
The cops asked a few more questions as to what had been said and why Sean was out on the front lawn and made it clear that if they remembered anything else that Sirius and Julie should go to the police station and ask for Striewski, the officer in charge.
After pictures and evidence had been collected the police left Julie and Sirius at the kitchen table. The silence that descended on the house was down right creepy and Sirius could tell that Julie was closing herself up, building walls to keep out whatever fears Sean had brought through that door.
“I saw you have ‘The Labyrinth’ on DVD. Do you feel up to a movie? We can eat the lasagna in the living room.”
******
Time Lapse!
Three days from the whole Sean incident.
******
Sirius sat in the backyard glaring at the Buddha figure in the center of Julie’s rock garden. He hated the fact that she flinched whenever he got too close to her. She would stare into space until he snapped her out of it with a smart remark or vulgar comment. He was running out of ways to distract her without having her get all freaked. They couldn’t immerse themselves in television and avoid reality forever. She did seem fine with him sleeping in her bed in his dog form. Having something to cuddle was helping her sleep but it wasn’t a real way to deal with the issues brought up from her ex-boyfriend’s surprise visit. Gods, he was glad Remus was getting back tomorrow. Moony always knew how to deal with other people’s emotions better than he ever did.
******

“Ya know, I think I like you better as a dog,” Julie said. “You can’t make fun of me if you can’t talk.”
“You don’t really mean that. Sure, I may tease you a bit, but doesn’t this sexy body of mine make up for it?” Sirius ran his hands down his sides. “Just look! Tell me you’re still angry at me after ogling my perfect ass.” He half turned to give her a better view.
Julie smacked him on said ass.
“It would take more than looking to make me forget your smart remarks.” She leaned back on the couch and continued to read her book. With a smirk Sirius threw himself onto the couch beside her.
“Oh? What did you have in mind? If you need help in deciding I can think of a few things that...”
“Don’t even start.” Julie looked at him with a slight smile. “Would you like to play a game since there is nothing on television?”
Sirius sat up and grinned.
“What kind of game? Something with a lot less clothing, I hope?”
“Sirius, stop that.” He had started taking off his shirt. “Leave your clothes on.”
“But that makes things different if you want to…”
“If you don’t behave all you will be doing is chasing your tail in the back yard.”
“That’s not exactly boring, you know.”
“Oh, shut up. So you want to play a mindless card game? I don’t think I can concentrate enough for anything more complicated than that. I believe my brain went on strike…and it’s your entire fault.” Julie pulled out a drawer in the coffee table and got a pack of childish looking cards.
“Sure, what do you want to play?”

******


Remus was exhausted. It certainly hadn’t been his easiest transformation. He just hoped Sirius hadn’t chewed up Julie’s furniture while he was away.
He walked up to the front door and knocked. There was no answer. He knocked louder…still no answer. Worried something had happened he opened the door and looked around. A laugh came from the living room and he let out a sigh and made his way through the kitchen.
“Go Fish!”
“Sirius, I know for a fact that you have at least one five!”
“Oh? Do you? Did you look at my cards, you cheater?”
“Of course I looked at your cards. You showed them to me.”
“That is no excuse! Cheating at cards! Shame on you!"
Remus put his hands on his hips and glared at Sirius. “How did this happen? Don’t you ever listen to a single thing I tell you?”
“Remus, hi! Well, it all started when I had a question about how sexy my ass is and even though you have commented on numerous occasions that…”
“Sirius!” Remus seemed to be slightly annoyed.
“Oh, Remus. It wasn’t his fault. This guy I had gone out with came barging in here and Sirius saved me.”
“Yes, a knight in shining armor…er, fur, rather. But don’t worry, Moony, I obliviated him and he didn’t get a chance to hurt Julie.” Sirius looked at Remus with a serious expression. “Could we go over to the cabin? I need a change of clothes and there is actually food over there.”
“All right. You will tell me what happened and then we can have dinner.”

******Scene Change-Remus’ House******
The three of them sat in Remus’ living room.
“You’ve known about Sirius for three whole days?” Remus asked. He was beginning to dread the rest of the story. “What have you guys been up to?”
“Just lounging around the house, being lazy,” Sirius said.
“Yeah, watching all three extended editions of LOTR was very draining. We pretty much stayed in the living room for 16 hours straight on the second day.” Julie smiled and rested her chin in her hand.
Remus sighed. “You did eat something, right?”
“Don’t be silly, of course we ate. We went through three bags of Cheetos, four liters of Mountain Dew each, and a ton of pretzels.”
“Sirius, I meant real food.”
“Um, I think we finished off the lasagna…yeah, for breakfast the first day.” Julie put in. “Neither of us really remembered to eat. It was mostly commercials that prompted us to search for food.”
“That in no way strengthens my confidence in you two to leave you alone for more than five hours.” Remus scowled and made Sirius immediately think of Molly Weasley.
“Don’t be such a mother hen, Moony. We did fine by ourselves.”
“According to you two.” Lupin shook his head.
“You’re just grumpy because you haven’t seen Julie naked.”
“Sirius!” she yelled.
“What!?!” He promptly gave her puppy dog eyes and an innocent look.
“Stop that.”
“Stop what?”
“You know!”
“I do?”
“You do.”
“Well, in that case…um...ah…what were we arguing about?”
“GRRRRR!”
“Hey, that’s my line!” He pouted at Julie.
“Sirius, stop aggravating her.” Remus was starting to get a headache.
“But she likes arguing with me.”
“Do not!”
“Do too!”
“Do not!”
“Do too!”
“Do not!”
“Do not!”
“Do t…hey!”
Sirius gave a bark of laughter. “You know you love me!”
“Well, that’s one flaw I definitely regret having. Damn dog.”
“Fine, see if I sleep at the foot of your bed tonight.”
“I’ll just stay with Remus, then.” Julie turned to Lupin and looked at him pleadingly. “I can stay with you…right?”
“Um. Er…sure.” He looked down at his hands with a light blush.
“Thank you.”
“But…But…I wanna sleep with Moony. It’s not faaaiir!”
Julie scrunched up her nose at the annoying quote and recited: “You say that so often, I wonder what your basis for comparison is.”
“Mmm, David Bowie! Yum.”
Sirius seemed to have forgotten the argument completely and was just gazing into space.
“That was…different.”
“He is a bit obsessed with the Labyrinth. David Bowie is just…”
“Yeah, drool-worthy.” She laughed and gave Remus a slight smile.
“Do you want something to drink?”
“Sure, thank you.”

*****

Julie looked around the kitchen, noticing how much more room there seemed to be compared to her little house. Remus’ cabin was definitely bigger than Julie’s two-room. Though the outside seemed the same size there were two bedrooms, a full size kitchen, a den, and a rather large bathroom.
“It must be magic.” Her comment made Remus stop reaching for a bottle of juice in his fridge.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not exactly an efficiency house, is it? The outside may be similar to mine but I am quite sure my bathroom is not that big.”
“Well, I might have added a disillusion charm on part of the house.”
“Only part of it?”
“Well…”
Sirius popped his head in the kitchen doorway. “Hey, it’s not as if it’s illegal or anything. Um, at least, not the charm. The wards on the other hand…”
“Shut up, Padfoot.” Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius who sat down next to Julie. “We lessen some of the wards when the Ministry inspectors come by. They don’t like people to set up wards that they can’t easily break through.”
“But why would they have a need to break into here? You aren’t terrorists or anything like that, are you?”
“No, but Sirius was accused and falsely convicted of some severe crimes and I …”
“It really is all political,” Sirius interrupted. “The Ministry didn’t like the fact that they had sent an innocent man to prison for twelve years so they are constantly trying to find ways to prove that they were somehow correct to begin with or charge me with something as equally gruesome as the first sentence.”
“What were you charged wi…never mind. It’s none of my business. I’m sorry I brought up this whole…”
“Mass murder. A friend of ours framed me when I went to confront him about the murders of two of our other friends. He panicked, blew up a bunch of innocent bystanders, and staged his own death.” Sirius’ voice cracked and he reached over for Remus’ glass and gulped down half of it.
“I’m so…”
“Don’t be sorry. There is nothing that can be done to change the past. We just have to deal with it.” Sirius stared down at the glass in his hand then traveled to the identification number magically engraved into his forearm. He let a grim smile appear on his face. The brand always reminded him of the stories of the muggles who were forced into concentration camps in the forties. At least his situation was relatively better compared to what many of them had suffered, if you can consider reliving your worst nightmares over and over again for twelve agonizing years ‘better’. At least he was alive.
“But it’s not fa…”
“Not fair?” Remus let out a laugh that was anything but amused. “Hardly anything in life is fair. Didn’t you learn that from your Labyrinth movie? Life isn’t fair. Not for anyone.”
Julie sat in her chair, absorbing all of the information these men had shared with her. She glanced over at Sirius, who seemed lost in thought, then at Remus who was looking at him with a worried expression. I guess a hug is in order. An apology too. Julie got up and sat on Sirius’ lap, snaking her arms around his waist and burying her face in his shoulder. She felt him tense up then a hand tangled itself in her hair.
Julie sighed and lifted her head to look at him. “I’m sorry for upsetting you. I shouldn’t have asked you about…”
Sirius cut her off with a desperate kiss. It was full of sadness and suffering, projecting a need so basic that Julie could almost forget the pain Sean had put her through in favor of fulfilling this simple plea from a haunted man. She kissed him back, wanting to show him that she cared for him; that, in the little time she had known Sirius, Julie truly felt a kinship to him.
An amused cough from across the table made them both aware that they had an audience. Remus was lounging back in his chair with a slight smirk that would be more Sirius’ style.
“Oh, don’t let me interrupt. I’ll just sit here while you make out in the kitchen. You might want to back that chair up against a counter or you’ll both end up on the floor. Not that that would be a bad thing but…”
Sirius laughed and held Julie a bit tighter. With the tension broken he was able to push back most of the memories that had been plaguing him and concentrated on the woman on his lap. “You’re just miffed that you’re not the one sitting in my lap right now.”
Remus raised an eyebrow and gave a slight nod of his head. “I suppose you are right.” The sudden pout on his face made Julie let out a round of laughter that she hadn’t heard from herself in quite a while. She gave Sirius a peck on the cheek and slid off of his lap.
He flashed a cocky grin and looked back to Remus.
“So…what’s for dinner?”

AN-Don't worry. There will be fighting and Death Eaters as well as more of an in-depth look at how everyone got to be where they are after the final battle was won. Oh, and lots of sex. Can’t forget that.