The Hardest Thing

"Damn," he muttered, looking just as surprised as she was. Alison backed away from him until she ran into the wall, and then stopped, wondering what her next move should be.

"A Muggle?" Sirius Black sounded shocked and confused, and for a moment Alison felt sorry for him, until she remembered that he was not only insane, he'd also just turned into and back from a large black dog.

"What are you?" She asked him, pinching her arm and really hoping that this was a dream she'd wake up from soon.

"You weren't supposed to know about this. I'm sorry. Like I said, I'll just be going." He turned to leave, through the door this time, but stopped, alert, when the door to the street slammed open. Heavy footsteps-definitely not Jules"-pounded through the waiting room and stopped outside the door to the examining room. "Someone you know?" Sirius asked her, ducking so that he couldn't be seen through the narrow window in the door.

Alison shook her head. It didn't sound like any of the pet owners she'd ever worked with. Whoever it was knocked on the door. "Alison Kendall? Are you there?" It was a deep, gruff voice. A man's voice, and, from the sound of things, a very large man.

"Let me take care of this," Sirius whispered, but she shook her head.

"He obviously wants me. Just-hide here."

"I can do better than that," he muttered, and, before Alison could register what he was doing, he'd turned back into a dog. She pushed open the door and walked out. The large figure in hooded black robes was looking out the window into the street, but turned when he heard her footsteps. Alison almost gasped. He was the ugliest man she'd ever seen. If she'd believed in such things, Alison would have said he resembled a troll. His face was like a lump of playdough that had been twisted and shaped into something resembling a human face, with small beady eyes, a great lump of a nose, and bulging, fleshy lips and cheeks. Bristly black stubble clung to his jaw and upper lip, and large pock-marks covered his cheeks and nose. He smiled, revealing several gold teeth.

"Can I help you, sir?" Alison asked, hoping that she couldn't so that he would leave.

"Alison Kendall?" She nodded.

"I'm Alexander Goyle. I lost my dog last night while I was walking him, and I was hoping maybe you found him? He ran away from me about three blocks from here."

"What sort of dog is he?"

Alexander Goyle smiled again, a grotesque, slimy sort of smile. "He's a mutt-a big, black dog, great shaggy brute, with gray eyes."

Alison heard Snuffles-Sirius-whatever he was growl behind her. She pulled the door shut. "I'm sorry, Mr. Goyle, I'm a vet, not a dog-catcher. I don't have any stray dogs here."

"Are you sure? A boy told me he saw you pulling a stretcher with a black dog on it into your office last night." More growling came from behind the door, and Goyle's beady green eyes lit up. "What's that in there?"

"My examining room."

"And what was that growl?"

"Nothing," Alison said, moving to intercept him as he reached for the doorknob. "I didn't hear anything."

Apparently Alexander Goyle wasn't as dense as she was hoping, because the look in his eyes turned calculating. He looked her up and down. "Then you won't mind me looking around? Just to make sure my dog isn't in there." Alison gulped. What choice did she have? And really, she asked herself, why should she help Sirius Black? If he was in trouble, it was of his own making.

"Alright," she said, nodding. "Go ahead. I have nothing to hide."

Alexander Goyle pushed open the door to the examining room and walked inside. Snuffles lay there, whimpering, in the corner, and Goyle's slimy smile spread across his lumpy face once more. "There you are, you mangy mutt! Gave us a scare, you did, running off like that!" He reached out a large, pudgy hand, as though intending to pat the dog, but Snuffles snapped at him, growling. Goyle made a fist, and for a second Alison was sure he meant to beat the dog.

"Nothing to hide, Miss Kendall?" Goyle turned back to her, the slimy smile still in place, but the beady eyes hard. "Just my dog. I could have you arrested for this, you know, you uppity little brat. Stealing people's dogs is a crime."

Alison would have liked nothing more than to cower, but she stood her ground. "I'm sorry, Mr. Goyle, but you've given me no proof that Snuffles is your dog. He's obviously not fond of you, anyway. So I'm afraid unless you can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is your dog, I have no reason to turn him over to you."

Goyle seemed to snap. He snarled, just as Snuffles had done a second before, and reached in his robes to pull out a long, thin piece of wood, which looked to Alison like a very long, very thick pencil. He waved it for a second, then opened his mouth and snarled, "AVADA-"

"STUPEFY!" Where Snuffles had been, Sirius Black suddenly reappeared. He was holding a-Alison supposed it might have been a wand, if such things were real-a wand of his own, and a jet of red light shot out of the end. It hit Alexander Goyle in the back and knocked him out.

Sirius turned to Alison, who stared at him, more confused than ever. All the questions she wanted to ask swirled through her mind, but she couldn't seem to find words for them, and let the blackness of oblivion sink over her instead, as she fainted for the first time in her life.

Alison woke up, groggy and disoriented, but kept her eyes closed. "It was just a dream," she muttered. "I'm going to open my eyes, and I'll be on the couch in my waiting room. The dog is just a dog, there was no man called Alexander Goyle, and Sirius Black is not anywhere near London."

"Actually, luv, I'm afraid he is." The voice came from next to the bed. Alison opened her eyes, and screamed. Sirius stood over her, his hand coming down over her mouth to silence her.

"Please don't make me go through this again," he muttered, running his free hand through hair that was considerably cleaner. Looking around, she realized they were in her flat, and she was in her own bed. Somehow, the thought was not comforting.

"How did you get in here?"

"The key," he said, looking mildly amused by something, "was in your pocket. I hope you don't mind," he continued, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "but since you didn't seem like you were about to wake up any time soon, I took a shower and washed my clothes." Alison slid away from him, toward the far side of the bed, which seemed to amuse him even more. He looked better clean, she thought, eyeing the way his white t-shirt and jeans fit his lean, muscular frame.

To distract herself from pursuing her increasingly disturbing thoughts, Alison asked, "how long was I asleep?"

"About an hour and a half," Sirius said, standing up. Something was tapping at the window, and Alison, thinking that after all she'd seen that day, nothing more should surprise her, was, once more, astonished at what she saw there. Sirius opened the window, and in flew a dusky-gray-colored owl with a sealed piece of folded paper clutched in its beak. Sirius took the paper from the bird, which took off again, and opened it, reading swiftly. He looked up at her, smiling grimly. "I was afraid this might happen. Look, they know about you, they know we're here-we have to leave, now." He picked up a jacket that was thrown over a chair and held it out to her. Alison stood, still a little groggy, and took it.

"Where are we going? And-wait, why would I go anywhere with you? I don't know you, and you're a wanted murderer! How do I know I can trust you? I'm not leaving."

"You're just going to have to take my word for it for now, alright? I'll take you to people who can explain better than I can, but you'll have to trust me until then. And if you don't leave, your little friend Goyle will be back, and this time I won't be around to save your adorable self from certain death."

"I'm dreaming," Alison said, sitting back down on the bed. "This is a dream. It has to be." She looked up at Sirius. "What are you? Why can you turn into a dog? And what was that stick thing you used back there?"

"I'll explain on the way," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her up. "There's no time to lose-they know we're here." Then he pulled her out the door.