SPLITAPARTS: lessons in love ✔️

Dreamboat Annie - Part Four

Sirius walked behind Cassie up the stairwell and entered her room behind her and closed the door behind them. She turned on the light on her dresser and he saw her canopy bed and her desk; the room was saturated in various shades of the color purple. In the corner where the turret was, saw the silhouette of her drum kit surrounded by windows. He looked on the walls and saw posters of horses, puppies and kittens. He did notice an overly large poster of a good looking blond haired man and wondered who he was. This was the room of a young teenage girl, and not at all how he envisioned it would be...in his head, she was far older and mature, even if she was still an innocent.

"Wish I had a TV up here and a phone too. But Daddy said no."

"Why's that?"

"Because he thinks I'd never come downstairs."

"Well, you'd have to eat at some point," Sirius said, shrugging his shoulders. "Then there's the issue of having to use the loo."

"That's what I said!"

Sirius laughed a barky laugh and thought it felt good to laugh in her presence; she always seemed to have a way of bringing that out in him and it comforted him. She walked over to the dresser and opened a drawer and pulled out a flannel nightgown and piled it up on the top of an ornate jewelry box that had once belonged to Albus' mother. Sirius had removed his flannel shirt and tee shirt and he craned his neck and saw that she was staring at him.

"What," he asked.

She shook her head.

"Come on, what is it?"

"I've just missed you is all."

He smiled warmly. "I've missed you too. So has Padfoot," he said, flashing a big smile. She approached him and wound her arms around his waist and placed her cheek against his shoulder. "Uh, Dee--you might not want to do that just yet," Sirius said breathing in deeply, then almost against his better judgment, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close, inhaling the scent of straw in her hair, as well as the faint scent of neroli, sandalwood and amber...He knew he missed her, but he wasn't aware just how much...she felt so good in his arms.

"What, hug you? What's wrong with hugging you?"

He pulled away and held her at arm's length. "Because I don't want to stop at a hug and a kiss. Know what I mean?"

Her mouth formed a perfect "O" and she turned away and walked back to her dresser and unzipped her jeans and pulled them down to step out of them. She was too tired to care that he was watching her and she continued to get undressed and put on her nightgown then crawled onto the bed. Sirius transformed into Padfoot and immediately hopped up on the bed and licked her face, causing her to giggle. She smiled and embraced him tightly and inhaled the scent of his fur. She released him and crawled beneath the duvet and sheet and lay on her side and watched Padfoot circle around and finally curl up tightly against her back after she rolled over on her side.

The boys woke up early and came down, helping themselves to large bowls of cereal and juice, each declaring that the other should settle down, lest they wake their father, sister or their guests. When Theo woke up, he saw that the boys were awake and out of bed and he walked into his bathroom and splashed cool water on his face. He stared with a terrible emptiness at Ann's toothbrush and picked it up. He returned it quickly, and then spied her housecoat hanging on the door. He turned and removed it from the elaborate hook and pressed it to his face and inhaling the scent of fresh soap and her, and wept quietly.

Theo got dressed and opened the door to his bedroom and stared with uneasiness at his daughter's bedroom door; he wanted to check on Cassie and Sirius, but he was afraid of what he'd find. He walked the eight feet across the large landing and turned the doorknob, thankful that it was unlocked as he instructed. He opened her door without knocking and peered in which was something that he never did; he respected her privacy, but he felt that this was an entirely different matter. He saw her curled up to a very large black furry thing that took up more than half the bed and he looked harder at it. The furry thing opened its eyes, lifted his head and wagged its tail on the bed. He stared with awe as he realized it was a very large dog; larger than a wolf-hybrid. Theo smiled and pulled his head out of the room and closed the door. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn that it had been Paddy curled up on the bed, as he was wont to do when he was alive.