Seeing animals around Hogsmeade wasn't an overly common thing, so it was notable when you kept seeing a stray hanging around in the village. You were a barmaid in The Three Broomsticks and when you were stuck outside cleaning up the tables, you noticed the dog once again walking through and heading off towards the forest where you had seen him go several times. After your shift, you snuck out some of the leftovers that would have ended up in the bin and headed off towards the forest to try and find the dog.

You didn't know its name, nor how to find it but when you found an opening to a cave, you could only assume that would be a safe place for the dog to hide. You were nervous about what else could be in there, but you didn't want to leave the dog out there to starve. As you walked further in, you noticed a soft glow and within a few steps around the cave, you found a man sat beside a fire.

"You're Sirius Black," you gasped.

Maybe it was stupid to make him aware of you being there, but you were shocked and confused and didn't think it through.

"How did you find me?" He questioned, jumping up onto his feet. "Who are you?"

"You're the dog," you whispered. "I saw you, well you as an animagus, and I came to give food to a stray dog. I didn't know you were... well, you."

He swore under his breath, clearly panicked and scared about what you were going to do about him.

"Everyone keeps telling me you're the bad guy," you stated.

"So, you're going to tell the ministry, I'm here?" He asked.

You shook your head. "A guilty man wouldn't be hiding in a cave. I've heard people also talk about you being framed, but I don't know what to believe. I just can't imagine if you were a murderer, you'd be begging for scraps as a dog."

He awkwardly laughed at your comment. "Not that my word means anything, but I'm innocent."

"I believe you. Your secret home is safe with me. And if it helps, I can get you more food than you're getting as a stray dog," you offered. "It's not much now, if I knew you were human, I'd have bought more than scraps."

You handed over the Tupperware of scraps you had stolen and the man before you quickly shovelled them into his mouth.

"Thank you, but why?"

You shrugged your shoulders. "The world needs more good in it."

~*~

Written by Charlotte.