Inglorious Bastards [Theodore Nott]

Chapter Two

"CARRIE. CARRIE. CARRIE. CARRIE. CARRIE."

"Maisie. Maisie. Maisie. Maisie. Maisie." Carina mocked her young cousin whilst still keeping her eyes glued to the textbook she was reading. It was one of her school books, A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch. It was an interesting subject – next to Astronomy. Not long, Maisie, who kept on asking Carina to let her play with Hester the owl (who Carina named after a classic literary character), but has been rejected countless times.

"Why not?" Maisie pouted.

"Because I don't want Fred to eat him!" Carina turned a page from her book.

"But Fred won't eat him! He's a good cat!"

Maisie picked up her orange cat off the floor, who Carina was sure she saw was trying to escape the room, and brought the creature to an embrace. The sight of the cat was pitiful as it pleaded to Carina's way with its one eye.

"I think Fred's had enough of your hugs." Carina took the cat from Maisie's arms and let him run around the house before he would sleep at the foot of Maisie's bed. No matter how much Fred hated being babied by his own, Carina knew that the cat was protective of Maisie and would always sleep at the foot of the girl's bed.

Maisie jumped into Carina's bed. She laid right down in the middle and then wrapped herself with the blankets, like a burrito. Carina huffed, she closed her book and placed it down before kneeling up before Maisie with a raised brow.

"From what I remember, your bed is the one on the left side of the room," Carina said.

"Buy yours is softer, mine is a bit stuffy." Maisie wriggled like a worm as she made her way to the pillows.

"We have the same type of bed!" Carina exclaimed.

"But yours is softer, and it smells good."

"Maybe yours would smell good too if you stopped wetting the bed."

Maisie gasped at her cousin's remark. She sat up and glared at Carina.

"I do not!"

"Hard to believe since I saw you trying to dry out your mattress in the middle of the night."

"I spilled my milk on the mattress! It was milk!"

"Yes, milk." Carina rolled her eyes.

"Shut it, Grumpy!"

"Make me, Blondie!"

"Girls."

Charity appeared at their door. With a stern look, the two arguing girls fell silent and were sitting straight at their beds.

"Hello, Mum!" Maisie greeted.

While Carina said, "Hello, Aunt Charity."

"I hope you two were not arguing. This is your last night together in this room." Charity went to take Maisie from Carina's bed. "Tomorrow, Carina will be leaving for Hogwarts and next time you see her is at the Holidays... Now, get to bed, we need to get up early tomorrow." She then turned to Carina. "You don't want to miss the train in your first year at Hogwarts, do you?"

Carina shook her head with a chuckle, "no."

"Now, bed!" Charity tucked in Maisie in her bed.

"It's not fair!" Maisie yawned. "How come Carina gets to go to Hogwarts."

"Don't worry, you will too. Next year." Charity then brushed her nose with her daughter. "Goodnight, darling."

"Goodnight." Maisie smiled and then closed her eyes.