Moony's Snowy Adventure

A/N: Written for lightningbolt-13 and Lilypool 'cause they're both friggin' awesome!
Word Count: 1,228
oO0Oo
In the darkness, Padfoot sprinted through the snow as fast as his four legs could take him. Moony crashed through some fallen branches as he chased after the black dog, barking a few times for an unknown reason.

Just up ahead Padfoot could see a hollowed out log (like the one in the Muggle cartoon shows he watched at Remus' when they were younger) and realized it was just small enough for him to fit through. He dodged a few rocks and more branches before scurrying into the log, knowing Moony couldn't fit.

He crawled on his stomach until he was in the very middle, knowing he was unreachable. There was a loud thump and then Padfoot heard the werewolf's low growl. A few minutes went by and then Padfoot heard scratching from behind him, Moony was trying to get in.

Padfoot chuckled in his head and slowly crawled forward again, trying his hardest to stay quiet. Moony was still trying to make his way in the back so he knew he was safe. When he reached the other end, Padfoot stuck his head out, and when he saw the coast was clear, he made a break for it.

He didn't get far.

Before he could even get twenty feet away, he was tackled by the werewolf. The two canines wrestled for a few minutes before Moony was flat on his back and looking up at Padfoot with a happy grin on his face.

Padfoot barked happily before licking the side of his companion's face and jumping away. Now it was his turn to chase after him.

Moony stayed there for a moment before jumping up and running through the woods. Padfoot gave him a head start – knowing there was no one around the werewolf could harm – then quickly chased after him.

Because Padfoot was smaller than Moony, he could weave through all the fallen branches and jump over all of the random debris on the forest floor. The only advantage that the werewolf had was that he was much faster than the large black dog.

When they'd been at school, both Remus and Sirius tried to figure out why that was but couldn't find a definite answer. Not that it had – or did – bother Sirius, he just wanted to know why.

Suddenly, Padfoot came to a clearing and couldn't find any of Moony's tracks. He had been sure the larger canine had come this way, he could even smell him. But where could he have gone?

Padfoot slowly made his way around the small clearing, trying to catch Moony's scent one more time and finally found it about 5 feet on the trunk of one of the larger trees. What was it doin-

Before he could finish his thought, Padfoot was once again tackled from behind. This time there was no struggling because Moony rolled off of him instantly. Padfoot watched him roll around in the snow for a bit. When they'd been at school, Moony had always been interested and excited by the snow that managed to make its way into the Shack.

Unexpectedly, there was a small noise off to the side, making both of them look over. Digging in the snow was a white rabbit.

Padfoot looked at Moony and saw the werewolf's eyes trained on the small animal and he knew what was going to happen if he didn't distract him. The black dog suddenly jumped up and onto the werewolf. The rabbit had been startled enough to dash away and Moony was now distracted.

He growled at Padfoot playfully and nipped at his neck, missing it. They wrestled once more but Padfoot got out of the way before he was pinned and hurried off in the opposite direction of the rabbit – whenever Moony ate a rabbit, Remus' stomach always hurt the next day.

The chase started again and only stopped when they came to a large, frozen lake. Or, at least it looked frozen until Padfoot got closer. There were a few spots on the edge that were thawed and Padfoot got a drink he didn't know that he needed until then.

Moony watched him for a moment before slowly walking on the ice, probably seeing something in the middle of the lake. Padfoot called out a warning, knowing the ice wouldn't hold the large werewolf's weight but was ignored.

Padfoot watched helplessly as Moony continued to pursue whatever he had seen and then fell through the ice. The hole was so big and continued to grow so there was no way Padfoot could get to Moony to save him without endangering himself.

From the shore, Padfoot barked at Moony, hoping the werewolf could still hear his voice. The black dog thought of changing back into his human form but he quickly realized that would do him no good – he couldn't get close enough to save Moony.

But, before he could do something drastic – like change back and Apparate to James' house for help – Moony suddenly popped up near where Padfoot had been drinking. He ran over to make sure his werewolf was not hurt, only to find Moony smiling broadly.

He crawled out of the lake and shook off the excess water. Once he was dry enough, he looked at Padfoot expectantly and it seemed like he wanted to go swimming again. Padfoot didn't understand, how was he not freezing?

As soon as he was Remus again, Sirius knew he'd have to ask what the bloody hell had just happened. But for now, it seemed like Moony was even more energized. In fact, he started to run around quickly and every so often looked back at Padfoot who was simply sitting there, watching him.

It was nice to see the werewolf being so free. They had Apparated to a very secluded part of the woods and Dumbledore had taught Sirius some protection charms to make sure no one could walk near them.

But, now wasn't the time to be all serious – Padfoot mentally chuckled at the joke – now was the time to have fun. He quickly jumped up and chased after Moony once more, each of them barking happily.

A few hours later, Moony and Padfoot were lying in the clearing from before, each of them on their back. Moony had fallen asleep and was now snoring – Remus denied he did this even in human form – so Padfoot just watched the sky become clearer.

For the past few days it had snowed constantly but it had actually stopped earlier that morning, it was only clearing now. Judging by the direction of the sun – and the fact that the sky was getting lighter – Padfoot knew that Moony would be changing back into his beloved Remus in a few hours.

He knew that he should wake the werewolf and herd him back to the small shack where their things were being held, but he was feeling lethargic himself and didn't want to move right now. It wasn't very often when it was just the two of them, even when it wasn't a full moon. So, he was going to take advantage of it for now.

In a couple of hours – yes, he knew he had that much time left – he'd wake Moony and take him back to the shack. But, for now, it was fine to just be there with his sleeping werewolf.