GOOD DOG || Sirius Black

(Six: If I Could Tell Her)

Months passed in a blur.

Alex wondered why she had never thought of getting a dog before. Dogs don't judge you. They wont think any more or less of you if you stumble over your sentences or trip as you walk across seemingly even ground. They don't snigger or look away when you pass. They sit loyally and wag their tale. They understand when you want to talk and when you just want to lie under the sun.

Or, at least, Snuffles did.

Alex still wasn't sure what gender Snuffles was, and she wasn't sure what she was meant to assume about the dog's pronouns, but regardless, the animal had a reassuring presence. Sometimes, Alex almost thought they could understand her. Every second spent in the castle was spent wishing for class to end so that she could escape the confines of it's walls.

The night before Halloween, she had positioned herself on the ridge facing the Forbidden Forest. The sunset would soon dye the sky a multitude of pastels, but for now the smattering of clouds presented a pretty picture for Alex, and her eyes scanned the earth around her unconsciously for an angle that would make it seem all the better. She was sure that someone could trace her every movement if they wanted to, and follow her line of thoughts exactly, just by the photographs she had taken. Like capturing tiny fragments of memories in only ink and paper.

Alex's job, she supposed as she waited for her canine companion, was to make things seem better than they were. A chain-link fence made for a factory's boundary, but cast nought-and-cross shadows on the ground when the sun was high. Things that seemed ugly made for a special kind of beauty. Alex craned her head to look at Hogwarts, perfectly sculpted spires stabbing the sky. Beautiful things could be ugly as well.

"Argh!"

Alex had been too busy daydreaming about clouds to notice the great shaggy dog until it had leapt on her. She fell backwards, laughing and pushing Snuffles away.

"Good evening, Fiend." Alex grinned.

Snuffles sneezed their greeting. Alex imagined that she could hear the dog's thoughts, Good evening to you too, human person.

"So how are you today?" Alex fell back into the grass, letting her feet dangle over the drop.

Snuffles flopped down next to her, Too many confusing mirrors, not enough food.

"Same, my friend. You have no idea about the struggles of being human." Alex informed the dog, who barked at her.

You have no idea what it means to be a dog, I pictured Snuffles saying.

"You are the most sarcastic hound I have ever met." Alex smiled at the sky, willing it to burn up in sunset, willing everything to burn.

Snuffles snorted.

It would be good to get a photograph from behind them now. They were silhouetted in the failing sunset, quite picturesque. Long exposure, she thought, to get the streaks of sunlight.

"I think Logan likes Marlene McKinnon, you know." Alex mentioned casually, trailing a hand through the grass.

Snuffles cocked their head, And this interests you why?

"He was watching her all through breakfast." Alex was well aware that she felt a compulsive need to explain herself, even around a dog, "It's weird. It would have made me feel weird."

Snuffles pawed at the ground, Please talk about something more interesting.

"I was... I dunno," Alex stared at the clouds above her, "Like, there was this little part of me that was jealous, but not of Logan. I don't know how to explain it."