A Grim Return

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters within the books. : ( This story is purely written for mine and your enjoyment and I am receiving to money for the writing of this story.

Summary: Sirius returns from behind the veil, the only problem is that he is stuck in his dog form. It’s not that he isn’t happy to be alive again; he just wants to know why he got thrown in the hands of one Lucius Malfoy and two Severus Snape.

Warnings: This will be slash later in the story. Right now it’s lying toward Lucius/Sirius but it could change to Severus/Sirius as the story progresses. Lucius and Severus may seem to be OOC at some points but the only reason for that is because I believe that there is more to them than meets the eye and I want to play with that possibility.

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He felt miserable. The party was surprisingly loud considering that amount of people that showed up. It was way noisier than 15 to 20 people should be able to make it. He had tried sneaking upstairs but Narcissa had caught him and spelled the stairs so no one could access them. At least she had kept it fair. He had pouted and got nowhere with her, and that was how he ended up staying at the feet of one Severus Snape. Why was it Snape he chose to stay with? Well, Narcissa was way too busy running around and playing the perfect host, Lucius was busy entertaining the men with boring Ministry stories that how they found interesting he would never know, and Harry and Draco where out in the yard with others closer to their age drinking and doing whatever else they could find without getting into trouble with the elder Malfoy’s. So, since Snape was the only one not running around or telling boring stories, he chose the man to sit with, to be out of the way with, and to ignore. No one seemed to notice that Snape was hid in the secluded corner and thus no one seemed to notice him, which suited both of them just fine. As long as they ignored each other everything would remain calm. So, ignore each other they did. It annoyed him how calmly Snape sat in the chair and sipped the whine that Narcissa had supplied the man with earlier. Why, he did not know. The man didn’t need a reason to irritate him.

He sighed and lay down placing his head on his paws. He had figured that the party would be dull for him; he just hadn’t calculated correctly just how dull it would be. Now, he concentrated on his current dilemma which I really didn’t want to face. Three months. How much more time could he win this fight of minds, even with the greasy gits help? He sighed again and returned to his sitting position. He had tried again and again to shift back with no success. He had even dreamed of the shift and woke up to be the same as before, not even a strand of fur any different. Why was this so hard? He knew he was able to perform the shift before the veil like he was only snapping his fingers or whistling a tune. He gave a small growl of annoyance rubbing his paw over his face. None of it made any sense to him. What was wrong with him?

“There is nothing wrong with you personally, Black. Your magic has simply been damaged and weakened.”

He glared up at the dark haired man. Who had asked for his opinion?

“You asked a question. If you didn’t want it answered, you shouldn’t have asked it.”

He glared harder and growled. He was really beginning to wish the git would just stay out of his head already. Snape was not welcome. He showed his teeth a little as Snape looked down at him.

“If you really want to lose your human side that badly…”

He barked and jumped up laying his front paws on Snape’s legs. The feeling of the opening in his head that he was being threatened with sent his heart into a panic. He whined and shook his head. He wanted to get back, not lose himself completely. He felt the closing of the breach and sighed in relief not caring that Snape was smirking down at him. He didn’t even notice that Snape had pushed him off his legs.

“I didn’t think you did.”

“Look at this, Severus. You two are actually bonding?”

“If that is what you want to call it, Narcissa.”

He toned them out. He didn’t want to hear what they were saying. A feeling of sudden claustrophobia washed over him making it hard for him to breathe. He got up and moved outside to hide behind some bushes so no one would find him. His magic was damaged? How could that be? It must have been the veil. Something about his stay had done something to his magic. Taken it, ripped it, smothered it, or some other thing that he didn’t want to think about. So, why did it throw him back it he was just going to lose his mind anyway? It did not seem fair, but of course nothing was ever truly fair when it came to him. Maybe, it wouldn’t be so bad to lose his mind to the dog. He for sure wouldn’t have to think so hard about what he was going to do if things did go bad. What about Harry though? He couldn’t leave the boy; scratch that, young man again. There was no way he could do that. He hated not knowing what to do and he hated knowing that he would have to rely on Snape if there was even a chance that he would be able to get through this.

Whispers that sounded angry were carried to him by the wind. He watch carefully through the leaves as Draco walked into view with someone else. The person was a girl but he could not see her clearly. She sounded clearly upset causing the fur on his back to bristle. He wasn’t paying attention to their words. He could tell the girl was supposed to be a friend of Draco’s but at the moment she seemed like more of a danger to the blond boy. Her words became louder and more intense making his hackles raise. He felt his breath quicken and his blood rushed through his body. This had never happened even before the veil. His mind kept chanting that the girl was a danger even though logically he knew she wasn’t. She drew her wand and he felt himself spring at her knowing he was going for her throat. He couldn’t remember much after that. He tasted blood on his tongue; heard yelling and screams though couldn’t make them out. The girl had threatened his ward; he had to protect what was his. Someone grabbed him from the girl and he turned on them not registering who it was. They yelled and jerked away causing blood to rush into his mouth fueling him on. Another hand grabbed him around the neck but before he could turn on them they had also wrapped a hand firmly around his muzzle.

“Stop you damn mutt! Heel!”

Heel? What the hell did that mean? He struggled to get at the male voice holding him.

“Black, please, I’m sorry. Get a hold of yourself.”

It was whispered but it was loud in his head. Black? I’m sorry? What was going on? He felt fuzzy as he blinked his eyes. What had happened? He blinked some more as the scene began to register in his mind. People had surrounded the girl he had originally gone after. Why did he do that again? She was covered in her own blood from random bites on her arms and shoulders. He was thankful it appeared he didn’t get hold of her neck. There was someone else. Who? He blinked some more as his breathing got under control. He felt the arms holding him close up on his hind legs tighten around him. He noticed Harry holding his arm and a pang of hurt hit home. Harry. He had attacked his godson. Why? What had he done? What had happened to cause this?

“It’s ok, Harry doesn’t blame you. The girl was Pansy, one of Draco’s old friends. No one here blames you, Black. Draco has told them what happened. You were protecting him.”

That didn’t matter. He had attacked Harry.

“He doesn’t blame you mutt. He grabbed you while you were defending and he knows that he did wrong. Don’t let it eat at you.”

He had lost control. He had attacked his godson in the process as well. What went wrong? How could this happen? He felt the man sigh in his ear.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t… the instinct to protect was too strong.”

Snape was apologizing? What the hell? People were moving about not paying attention to them in the least. He could only stare at Harry as a medi-wizard healed the bite on his arm. He barely noted that Snape had yet to release his hold on him or his muzzle.

“That dog is a danger Malfoy. You should have it put down.”

He noted that Snape tightened his hold. Draco, Harry, and Narcissa looked ready to protest but Lucius held up his hand.

“I will do no such thing Mr. Parkinson. ‘That dog’ as you put it was protecting my son.”

“From what, Malfoy? A girl?”

“If you daughter had not raised her wand against my son that dog would not have made one move toward her. She brought her fate upon herself. I will not punish him for that which is his nature.”

Parkinson didn’t say another word but left the grounds in a huff. He did not figure that the man would be back at anytime in the near future. Pansy was done gone, more than likely to St. Mungos. Everyone else left as well with very little said between any of them. He wiggled slightly as he legs were beginning to hurt from being held so long in the strange position.

“You can let him go now, Severus. Thank you for calming him down.”

As soon as he was free he ran over to Harry. He was relieved when neither Harry nor Draco flinched or shied away, but opened their arms to him. They pet and nuzzled him whispering soothing words to him. This did nothing to sooth the guilt that he felt consuming him. He would have never so brutally attacked someone like he just did. He now knew that something would have to be done to get him to switch back. Yes, it was the dog that did it, but he felt as though he could have stopped it. Snape was the only one that could help him now, as much as he hated to admit it. He turned to look at the man who was talking to Lucius and Narcissa to see that he heard and understood. A nod was all he needed to know that Snape, his rival and nemesis since his first year at Hogwarts, was willing to help him shift back. The wonders of the world would never cease to amaze him.

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He stared at the fire. The feeling of being lost was beginning to overwhelm him. Lucius and Narcissa were sitting on the bed whispering back and forth. He wasn’t paying that much attention but he caught words that told him that they were talking about what had happened that night. They found it hard to believe that he had attacked Pansy, and frankly, so would he, but he knew what was going on. The more he thought about it the more worried he became. Snape wasn’t able to hold back the dog when the instincts became too strong. So, where did this leave him? The simplest answer would be staying away from any situations that could trigger his most basic instincts. Well, there went just about everything that he had enjoyed doing. He couldn’t chase the peacocks seeing as how he might end up actually killing one of them. He flinched. Lucius would not look over that one so easily. He’d be lucky if he survived five minutes after the act. He sighed noticing that the two on the bed must have fallen asleep. He had thought that he had been smiled down on when he came back from the veil. Now he was beginning to believe that someone was just continuing to play with his already shitty life some more and making it much worse than it had ever been.

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Poor Sirius. : ( Maybe Severus will be able to help him before it’s too late. Let me know what you think.