good things fall apart • sirius black

Patriarchs

    "You can't just barge in there! What if he sleeps naked or something?"

    "I can tell you that I know, first-hand, he does not sleep naked."

    "But still, it's an invasion of his privacy, Ellie."

    "Don't worry, Lily-flower, Cubby's an exception to every rule where Padfoot is concerned. He'll appreciate the wake up call from her. We'll leave them to it and get breakfast, I can smell mum cooking eggs."

James took Lily's hand as he pulled her away towards the stairs, winking back at Ellie as he went, and as soon as they were out of sight, the beautiful girl slinked round Sirius' bedroom door. Shutting it tight behind her, she didn't so much as break a stride as she became Cubby and leapt onto his bed, pouncing on his sleeping form with a wagging tail. Padfoot had woken her up like this so many times that it was only fair he had the favour returned, and being able to be ridiculous like this with him felt good after so long of not being able to communicate.

Cubby pinned Sirius down on the bed where he was lying flat out on his stomach, his arms out wide as if he was skydiving in his sleep. He groaned but made no moves to roll over as she nuzzled her nose into the nape of his neck affectionately, not really wanting to have to force him up. But then, eventually, one of his arms reached back, trying his best to fumble around for whatever had him squished.

    "To what do I owe the pleasure, pup?" He grinned, twisting his neck to the side and swiping hair out of his face. Cubby used the opportunity to lick his cheek, "Okay, okay. Get off me so I can roll over and see your face." With an enthusiastic bark which made Sirius chuckle, Cubby rolled to the side and onto her back, flailing her front paws in the air at his side. The handsome boy rubbed his eyes as he shuffled to face her, "I've not seen you for a while, Cubs, have you missed me?" The scruffy brown dog grumbled, "Or have you missed your boyfriend? Padfoot's been pining too, just so you know." She barked in protest this time, "Don't use that tone with me, young lady. We both know well and good that you don't actually like Moony any more than you like Pads. I'm your favourite really."

When Sirius rolled onto his back to open his arms out wide, there wasn't a second before Cubby had dived on top of him, nestling her nose into the crook of his neck as his fingers tangled into her fur.

    "I told you." He whispered, and before the scruffy brown dog was replaced in his arms by Ellie, she rolled out of his grip so that they were only lying side by side. The beautiful girl wanted to remain careful about not pushing his boundaries, and Sirius could recognise that, grinning lazily at her, "Mornin' beautiful."

    "Mornin' fool." She hummed, batting her eyelashes as she tucked one of her arms under his pillow.

    "I'm not complaining, I never would do about you, but why the wake up call?"

    "Today's the day that you become an aristocrat, Padfoot. The patriarch of your currently none existent line. Just a young man and his fucking huge estate." Sirius chuckled, "How does it feel to be loaded? How does it feel to own your own stately home- is that even what this Protea House is?"

    "The place is huge." He told her, "Three stories set in the middle of acres of woodland. Alphard was always a very private man."

    "Bloody hell..." Ellie cursed, rolling away from him slightly so that she could lie on her back and stare at the ceiling, "Does this mean you can only dress in the most expensive robes? Waistcoats and pointy hats too? What about business stuff, can we only discuss the falling exchange rates of galleons and how imports are devaluing British elf-made wine? Or maybe I'm gonna have to learn French and Latin, for how else do purebloods communicate?"