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Screen doors were officially Minnie II’s greatest enemy.
Minnie II was officially Padfoot’s greatest enemy.
And Padfoot was certainly Lily Evans Potter’s greatest enemy.
James Potter just wished it wasn’t snowing so much.
“Why was the glass door open in December, anyway?” he asked his wife, who was seething in the living room.
“Because,” she said, “Remus and I were frying chipolatas and it got smokey in the kitchen. So we opened the glass doors to let it air out.”
“Right,” said James. He could not deny that this was a sensible reason for having the glass doors open. Even if there was a snowstorm on. As he swept the quickly-growing pile of snow back outside, he asked, “and where’s Padfoot now?”
“Hiding, obviously,” Lily said. “He knows that if the cat doesn’t kill him, I most certainly will.”
At that moment, Remus reentered the house through the gaping hole in the screen door. Under his arm was a hissing Minnie II, his ginger fur on end and his bottlebrush tail stiff and angry.
“Found him,” he announced. “He was hiding behind the snowman.”
James snorted. “Mins doesn’t hide, he lies in wait. Merlin, but I hope Sirius knows what he’s gotten himself into.”
“Where is Sirius anyway?” Remus asked.
“Hiding,” Lily and James said in unison.
“Typical,” Remus said, with a roll of his eyes. “I’ll go find him, shall I?”
~
Sirius was not difficult to find. He was in their bedroom, curled up on the bed, still Padfoot.
“Sirius?” Remus asked. Padfoot gave a piteous little whine, and rolled over onto his back, showing his belly. Remus sighed, walked to the bed, and perched on the edge. He gave Padfoot’s belly a scratch.
“This may work on me but it isn’t going to work on Lily,” he cautioned.
Padfoot whined again and flipped back over. Resting on his stomach, his front legs splayed out in front of him, he thumped his chin down on Remus’ lap.
“Why were you chasing the cat, anyway?” Remus asked. “You know that never ends well. Sirius, you’re not actually a dog, you are intelligent enough to understand cause and effect.”
Padfoot nosed at Remus’ hand.
“No!” Remus said. “No more playing puppy with me.”
His ears drooped.
“Damn you!” Remus groaned, as he reached out with his hand to scratch Padfoot behind the ears. Padfoot sprang up and licked Remus across the nose.
“Christ.” Remus looked into Padfoot’s intelligent silvery eyes, eyes that never fully lost their human aura. “I promise I’m not cross with you. Now will you please transform?”
Padfoot darted in to swipe another hot kiss across Remus’ cheek. Then he leapt from the bed. By the time his feet hit the ground, he was Sirius again.
“You know,” said Remus, “just because dogs lick people across the face doesn’t mean you have to.”
Sirius smiled mischievously. “A face as delicious as yours? How can I resist?” His voice was slightly hoarse, as it always was after he spent time as Padfoot.
“Ha. Ha.” They had been together for years now, but Remus still found himself floundering sometimes when met with Sirius’ penchant for adoring him.
Sirius, sensing his discomfort, tacked on, “and besides, you still had the grease from the chipolata on your lips. I had to taste it.”
“Ah, so that’s why you were Padfoot, then? The sausages?”
“But of course!” Sirius said. “Remus, every scent becomes a thousand times more compelling when I’m transformed. It’s quite literally mouthwatering. And besides —” he broke off.
“And besides what?” Remus prompted.
“Well,” Sirius began, flushing slightly, “I thought Padfoot might have better luck begging for a taste.”
Remus closed his eyes. “Of course you did.”
“Don’t pretend like it wouldn’t have worked!” Sirius crowed. “I know you, you can’t resist me.”
“I really, really can't,” Remus replied. He sounded pained, but when he opened his eyes again, his face was nothing but fond. He smiled at Sirius for a moment, but then his brow furrowed again. “But why chase the cat?”
“He started it!”
~
Back in the living room, James was repairing the torn door.
“Good as new,” he said in satisfaction, showing his handiwork to Lily.
Mins cradled in her arms, she eyed the door critically. It was true, the charm James had cast had done an almost perfect job knitting the metal screen back together. Almost perfect.
“Was it like this before?” she asked, pointing to the webbing. The wires crossed one another in a triangular pattern now, rather than square
James came and looked over her shoulder. “I may have made some improvements,” he admitted.
“Oh?”
“Triangles are stronger than squares,” James reasoned. “That psychics book you gave me said so.”
“Physics,” Lily corrected automatically, lips quirked in a smile.
“Whatever.”
“I think my father will notice we altered his beach house,” she warned. She reached up and ran a smoothing thumb across James’ wiry eyebrow. “He might not let us use it again.”
“Eh, we’ll tell him about the triangles too, and he’ll thank us.”
Lily snorted delicately. “I’m not so sure about that.”
Just then, the door of Remus and Sirius’ guest room creaked open. Lily whipped around, ready to pounce. Before she could say a word, however, the cat leapt from her arms and ran at Sirius. Remus pushed Sirius out of the way, ready to sacrifice himself and take on the brunt of feline fury.
But Minerva the Second was as smart as his namesake. He darted around Remus, jumped onto the kitchen island, and from there, found his way home to Sirius’ chest.
Sirius shouted in alarm. Remus and Lily ran to his aid. James looked around for the cat carrier, in which Mins might be imprisoned after he was captured.
But it was all for naught.
Having found Sirius’ arms, the cat relaxed his body. Sirius, surprised, held Minnie II stiffly aloft and looked around in confusion.
“What’s going on?” he asked a bewildered Lily.
She only shook her head, her mouth agape.
James, however, began to cackle gleefully.
“You have a new best friend, Pads!” he choked out between guffaws.
“What?” Sirius looked down at the ugly, squashed face doubtfully. The cat mewled quietly, then nuzzled its head against the scruffy underside of Sirius’ chin. Sirius relaxed his arms by a fraction, holding Mins slightly closer to his body. Mins purred comfortable and nestled himself more securely into Sirius’ arms.
“Ew,” said Sirius in shocked disgust. “I have a new best friend.”
James looked at his wife. “I think this is a good enough punishment, don’t you?”
Lily looked from the delighted Minerva to the horrified Sirius, and smiled.
“Yes, I think it’s good enough.”