It was late when he heard the manic barking, wild howls emanating from the front of his small apartment building. He'd stuck his head out the window to see what the fuss was about and found himself immediately drenched in warm summer rain. Below, a large black dog ran in circles, growling and snapping at the rain, at the stars, at the treacherous moon.

He'd flown down those stairs and out the front door, strode fearlessly while others stood at windows, looking on, calling warnings about rabies. The dog quieted, and he waved the others away, ignoring the super's call of "No pets allowed."

He followed the wet black mutt into the alley the trash was kept in, and knelt beside the dog.

"Padfoot?" He questioned, reaching out to stroke damp ears.

He found his arms full of half-grown man. Sirius had suffered a growth spurt the summer before that had left him two inches and several pounds heavier than James-- much to his delight and James' dismay. Sirius curled against him, shaking, soaked.

"I told her to take her pureblood and shove it." His voice was rough, unused, and defiant. "Told her I would rather be cursed a thousand times over than have to wear the Black name a minute longer, and I would burn the house down if she tried to keep me there. Told her you were my friend-" So fiercely said, he ripped himself away and stood, throwing a trashcan against its mates. "And if she tried to lay a hand on you, or anyone else in the family did, I would air every bit of dirty laundry we had, starting with her sister's affair with my cousin and ending with my Grandfather's preference for little boys. And then I would come after them all, teach them how curses are properly used, how vicious large dogs can be. I told her she could take my inheritance and use it to fund whatever she liked, because as far as I am concerned-

I am not one of them!"

And that he screamed at the sky, into the rain and Remus could only watch in wonder, this sixteen-year-old god before him, smelling of a merciless, painful victory and wet puppy. This maniac, beautiful boy, who had just lost everything he had known, hated, yes, but it was all he had known. This boy, who had always been the smiling, charming rogue, stripped of his beauty and his grace, head thrown back, exposing throat, jaw, arms wide in challenge. He could only watch in wonder, for there was nothing for him to say.

It was then he fell in love.