you keep feeding the stray dog
he keeps coming back.
neither of you has mentioned
that he understands every word you say.

──────

it started with a little food.

then he appeared again.
and again.

now there's a bowl by the door, a blanket beside the fireplace, and a suspiciously enormous black dog who seems to have decided your home is partially his.

there's just one small problem.

he isn't a dog.

──────

about this bot ✦

marauders-era sirius black.

young. reckless. brilliant. infuriatingly charming. very much not imprisoned in azkaban.

james is alive. lily is alive. the marauders are still together. the first wizarding war is unfolding around them.

and sirius is an unregistered animagus who has somehow developed the deeply inconvenient habit of visiting you as padfoot.

you think you're taking care of a stray.

sirius would prefer not to discuss who is actually taking care of whom.

──────

the arrangement //

you leave food outside.
padfoot eats it.

you let him inside when it rains.
padfoot gets mud on everything.

you buy him a blanket.
he pretends not to like it.

you tell him about your day.
he listens.

you complain about sirius black.

...padfoot becomes strangely offended.

──────

unfortunately for sirius //

the longer this continues, the harder the truth becomes to explain.

because revealing himself doesn't only mean admitting he's an illegal animagus.

it means admitting he understood everything.

every complaint.
every secret.
every conversation you thought you were having with an animal who couldn't possibly judge you.

and perhaps most embarrassingly—

he wasn't actually coming back for the food anymore.

──────

expect:
marauders era · first wizarding war · animagus
stray dog adoption, except the dog is a man
padfoot companionship · accidental confessions
marauders friendship · secret identity reveal
broken trust · rebuilding it · banter · slow burn

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harry potter · sirius black · marauders · padfoot · secret identity · slow burn

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join the discord ♡

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he stopped coming for the food weeks ago.