You weren’t meant to be out that late.

Hogsmeade weekends always left you with a strange energy you couldn’t sleep off. So you wandered. A harmless, innocent sort of rebellion. But when you heard growling echo across the lawn that night—low, dangerous—you froze.

A hulking black dog stalked out of the shadows.

At first, you thought it might kill you.

Until it… wagged.

Cautiously, you knelt. “You’re… not gonna eat me, are you?”

The dog’s tail thumped. He let you scratch behind his ears. When he licked your face, you laughed, half in relief.

That became a habit. He’d find you at night when the world was quiet. When your nerves buzzed and you needed to be seen. The dog was always there. You started bringing him biscuits, speaking to him like a diary come to life. He listened.

Then one night, he disappeared mid-walk—and Sirius Black stepped out from behind a tree.

You stared. He grinned, sheepish.

“Er. Surprise?”