Little Mischiefs [Inglorious Bastards/Black Anthology | HP Fanfic]

+ What if Regulus Black Survived? [Part 2]

Years have passed and Regulus has been living with the Goldsteins and became accustomed to being Maisie's pet. It took him a while to accept the fact that as Fred the cat, he was to be with Maisie since it was her who wanted the cat in the first place. Besides, Carina was always with her cousin, in school, when playing in the park, and at home, so he was there for both of the girls when they needed him (as a cat). The two were inseparable, even when after Carina learned about her true parentage – they were and will always be siblings, that was the promise the two made when Maisie crawled into Carina's bed one night after she heard the older girl crying from a nightmare. To think, even though Carina was older it was her who needed Maisie more, and depended on the girl.

He wouldn't admit it, but there were times were Regulus was enjoying being the two girls' "playmate" or companion; he enjoyed being their comfort cat whenever they were reading books, he would just sit on their laps and let them pet his head or when they played boardgames (Maisie has been teaching Fred the cat how to move pieces and count the number of dice), but he didn't really appreciate being forced to wear tutus to join in their performances or when they would have a water balloon fight and get caught in the crossfire.

Then, there was the chance for him to meet his cousins that were excommunicated by the Black family. After Carina learned about who her father was, Tom finally agreed with Andromeda that they meet Carina, for seven years, the Tonks family only met the girl four times – when Sirius introduced to them the infant, on her first birthday, on Emmanuelle's funeral, and on Ned's funeral. It was selfish of Tom to keep Carina from her other relatives – especially in the Black family – he knew that, but Regulus understood why. The wounds from the war were still raw, no matter how long time has passed. Tom never got the closure he needed with his sister's death, and Sirius' betrayal, and all from that led to the death of his own parents.

Given that Andromeda Black – now, Andromeda Tonks – was disowned by her family due to her marrying a Muggleborn, Regulus only got to meet the woman once when he was a boy, and he barely remembered her, so seeing her now – and her daughter – felt like a whiplash of some sort. The day Carina met her cousins from her father's family, she scared and tried to run and hide by leaving through the window, but Tom caught her and pulled her out of her escape route to meet the Tonks family and reminded her that they were nothing like her other relatives. And he was right, because the moment Carina sat Nymphadora Tonks and the girl's metamorphagus abilities, she fell in love with her cousin. After that, the Tonks family became frequent visitors, and the Goldsteins at their own home.

Not long – four years to be exact – Carina finally received the most awaited letter in every witch's life in Britain. She got her Hogwarts letter. The day she received the letter, Regulus has been pacing around, there was no doubt that Carina wouldn't bring him to Hogwarts since he was Maisie's pet, but he would much prefer to be there with her and protect her if needed – especially from bullies who knew of her life – alas, Carina was given an owl as a present by her Aunt, Charity, and he was left with Maisie for the whole year in Hanst.

Through out her year in Hogwarts, all Regulus had the source of the girl's whereabouts in Hogwarts were through the letters that the family would receive from the Deputy Headmistress and Head of House Gryffindor, informing them of her many detentions. At first, the family was surprised to receive a letter of the girl getting into detention in the first week of the term – even he was worried – but then, as months passed and there was an average of three letters per month received, it became a norm to them. And when Carina came home from her long year in Hogwarts, she was filled with stories about what she and her friends did, and as she told Maisie of the adventures she did in the halls, one name in particular caught Regulus' attention.