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At the foot of his bed, Padfoot was pawing and whining in his sleep. Harry pulled his wand out from under his pillow and cast a quick silencing charm around his bed. Then he scrambled out from under the blankets. He ignored the bite of the dorm room's cold air in favor of kneeling next to the dog.
Then Harry did something that he had always wished someone would do for him after a nightmare.
"Shhhe Sirius" Harry murmured as he stroked the dog's silky ears. "It's okay. Everything is fine."
The sleeping Padfoot was not persuaded.
Harry gently shook one of Padfoot's massive shoulders. The dog jerked away with a wild flash of his eyes and snap of his teeth.
"Sirius!" Harry hissed. "Settle down!"
Sirius did as he was told. Harry liked to think that it was because Sirius recognized him and trusted him. The more truthful answer, however, was probably that Sirius thought he was James Potter.
Didn't they smell differently or something?
Either way, Harry tentatively reached out to stroke Padfoot's head and ears. Slowly the tense dog relaxed under Harry's hand. When Harry stopped petting him, Sirius whined and butted his massive head against Harry. Harry laughed and scrambled back to the top of the bed. As he settled himself under the warm blankets again, Padfoot whined but settled back down at the foot of the bed.
Harry hesitated a moment. Padfoot was clearly unhappy. And Harry had always wanted someone to care for him – not baby him – after his own nightmares. And the bed was more than wide enough. As big a dog as Padfoot was, Harry was a small and rather scrawny child.
Tentatively Harry patted the spot next to him.
"Would you like to sleep here Padfoot?"
The dog yipped happily then crawled up to the head of the bed. Harry threw an arm across the massive grim and went back to sleep.
Padfoot continued to have nightmares. He also continued to share Harry's bed despite the odd ways that Ron kept looking at them. Harry found that he really did not care. Sirius was his godfather – and as close as any brother to his dad – and he needed someone to look after him. And even if Sirius and Ron and everyone else did not know it, Harry needed Sirius too. Waking up to a big, goofy Padfoot was the perfect way to encapsulate everything that he had gained from playing fast and loose with death and time and consequences. Plus, the giant, warm weight leaning into his side kept Harry's own nightmares at bay.
The rest of Gryffindor House soon grew accustomed to, then fond of Padfoot. Even if they had hated him, no one would have ratted Harry out for sneaking him into the dorms. It wasn't the Gryffindor way. As a House they were not as loyal as Hufflepuffs but they all had a certain 'Us versus Them' mentality when it came to authority – it was just slightly less pronounced when that authority was a former member of the House. It certainly helped that Sirius made an effort to be such a cheerful and friendly dog. Harry found himself hoping that all of the constant affection and attention was good for Sirius the man as well as for Sirius the dog. All told four Gryffindor and no Slytherins ended up knowing that Padfoot was Sirius – Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville.
All four of them were huddled up together and reviewing their notes on colored dyes when the twins ambled over.
"His name is brilliant!" Fred enthused.
"This your mischief?" George asked as he jerked his thumb at Padfoot who was currently having his ears rubbed by the Gryffindor chasers.
"He's the next part of that prank from the beginning of the year." The twins' gazes sharpened. Harry patted the pile of notes spread out in front of the four Gryffindor first years. "This is our mischief."
Fred nodded at the grim. "So whatever you did before Dumbledore's wand is a long-term sort of prank?"
Harry grinned evilly. "Definitely."
"Is it on Dumbledore?" George asked.
"Among others. It's the sort of thing everyone can enjoy."
The twins nodded. Fred suddenly smirked. "We'll leave you to it then. We've got homework to do."
Harry laughed so hard he cried as the twins sauntered away.
"I suddenly feel very sorry for the prefects" Neville murmured.
"Them? What about us?" Ron demanded. "They're already planning to outdo us!"
"We shouldn't even be having this sort of competition!" Hermione said fretfully even as she scribbled a couple of notes regarding edibility and pattern design.
Harry grinned. "But since we are, don't you want to win Hermione?" As her expression wavered, Harry absentmindedly added, "It's a good form of practical revision. There were Color Changing Charms on my Charms O.W.L."
Hermione's expression settled on determined. "I was thinking that it would be impossible to charm everyone individually even if we put a potion in everyone's shampoo and conditioner. Even if everyone used the stuff the school provides, everyone's on their own schedule so we would need some sort of complicated timing mechanism to dye everyone's hair all at the same time. It would be simpler and easier to get everyone if we used a potion and serve it at a meal like Fred and George did." She shoved a sketch and table across the table at Harry. "And if we somehow make these changes we could have more than just solid colors."
Harry read over her notes and slowly grinned. There were some tweaks that they would have to make to make the charms compatible and they needed to test their creation first but it was definitely viable.
"Hermione, you're the brightest witch of our generation."
Hermione beamed.
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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
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