Inglorious Bastards [Theodore Nott]

Chapter Fifty-One

Sirius spent most of his time in the Goldstein house in his Animagus form. It was the safest thing to do since he was still a wanted man, and to avoid any questions from the Goldstein's Muggle neighbors. Once morning would come, Sirius would immediately turn into a dog, he would walk around the house with a waddling tail, following Carina as if he were a lost puppy. A very large lost puppy. There were times when Carina would just roll her eyes at her father since he wouldn't leave her alone. He would be at her side when she and Maisie would leave the house to meet their Muggle friends from their former school, acting like their new family dog who only stayed with two girls, he would be there when Carina would make a quick errand for Charity, and he would also sit outside of the bathroom and wait when Carina needed to do her business. There were times when it annoyed her (especially the bathroom part) but most of the time it was funny.

When night came, the windows would be closed and the doors shut, Sirius would be able to walk on his two feet and eat normally, and then he would spend his whole night talking with his daughter and niece, who also enjoyed Sirius' company. He would tell them stories of his youth, the trouble he and his friends would get into with Filch or any other teacher in Hogwarts, and not once did they talk about the rising Darkness or Dumbledore's arrangements for him. It wasn't only the girls who enjoyed Sirius' presence, but also Charity, as she remembered the man back in their school days to be very entertaining with his little tricks, and until now he was still that boy from Hogwarts. Tom, however, was walking on eggshells while Sirius was there. The two men were. When they would talk, it would strictly be formal, tension was present whenever they were converse or were left alone in one place, so they would rather not be in the same room. Carina and the others decided not to dwell on the subject and let the two men speak about it, but it seems that neither one of them would even start the conversation.

Throughout the summer, Carina wrote to her friends, but never mentioned Sirius being there with her as her letters could be intercepted. She and Maisie did their summer homework, and Sirius would try his best to distract them by biting on their pants to play fetch, but then, they settled with him laying on Carina's lap, she would scratch his head while she did her homework.

"I remember," Sirius chuckled. "Pulling pranks on Snape, the man was very hilarious but most of the time he just asks for it – always threatening us – calling me a Blood-Traitor – he even called your mother a Filthy Half-Blood – that set me off the edge. I had him hanging in the air until he apologized to her... but of course, your mother didn't like how I handled the situation, and she left me... it took me a whole month to get her back."

"Now I know why Snape hates me so much," Carina sighed.

"Why? Is he giving you a hard time?" Sirius asked.

"Since first year, he has this hidden vendetta against me – he would always criticize my work – and most of the time my work is better than Malfoy's! And he would often bully me and Harry – and Neville!"

"That greasy-haired-git – you tell me the next time he does that – I can't believe that he's putting all his hatred on me onto you – he has no right!" Sirius growled.

"That's what I said!" Carina rolled her eyes. "But don't worry, I always get back at him – but it would always land my and Roman's arse in detention ."

Sirius chuckled at his daughter's story, but then he realized that he heard the name again, Roman. He's been wondering who Roman was, he has seen the boy's face from Carina's photos but never knew who he was to Carina.

"Who's Roman?" Sirius asked.

Carina grinned at the mention of the boy, this caused Sirius to slightly frown. He just got back his daughter, now she's interested in a boy?!