the_debt_of_time

the full moon because Padfoot kept an eye on the Whomping Willow, and never once saw
Remus head for it.
He stared up at the moon as it rose. Silence followed it, but he knew that somewhere
inside Hogwarts, Remus was screaming in agony. Padfoot buried his head in his paws and
whimpered as feelings of guilt overwhelmed him. How had he made such a mistake? How
could he have broken his promise to Mia and not trusted Remus? He had been a jealous
fool, and easily let Wormtail manipulate him through his grief in the aftermath of Mia's
disappearance. He should have known better.
Sometime toward the middle of October, Padfoot awoke to something warm and
fuzzy sleeping next to him. In the early morning, the light fur was almost a reddish-brown
and he breathed in deep and smelled the rainstorm... but not quite. Instead of the little
fox that he had hoped would have been there, was a rather large and incredibly hideous,
orange cat.
Padfoot growled at the creature, who actually looked to raise a questioning eyebrow
at him, looking bored and completely unthreatened. Sirius shifted into human form and
gave the beast a little shove. The cat rolled over onto its back, revealing its large belly.
"Seriously?" Sirius scoffed and rolled his eyes, leaning forward to scratch the little
monster.
"You're part kneazle aren't you? I was told once that kneazles are incredibly smart,
and that you can recognise Animagi. Is that true?" he inquired, watching as the cat turned
his head up and looked at him in a way that strangely conveyed a nod of the head.
"Holy shit." Sirius gaped at the beast. "Did you just...? No. I must have actually
lost it."
He tried to run his fingers through his hair in frustration, only to have them snag
on a tangle and yank on his scalp. He winced at the pain and then sighed in defeat, looking
back down at the kneazle.
"Say, you wouldn't want to catch a rat for me, would you?"
The kneazle purred in reply.
"It's a big ugly one. He's missing a toe on his front paw."
Yellow eyes turned to look up at Sirius as though he had said something the little
beast understood.