minnow // sirius black

thirty-eight

38  ;   responsibility

When James and I were 7, we asked our parents for a dog. I had always loved dogs, and one of our neighbors had this beautiful cloud of a dog, and when they got older, they said they couldn't take care of her.

So, I begged my Mum and Dad. I begged them, and then James begged them. They agreed but only if we could prove that we were responsible. So, James and I spent three weeks cleaning the entire house (except the kitchen, my dad was weird about that), taking turns taking out the trash, and mowing the lawn. We took turns mopping the floors, and helping with laundry.

That was the only three weeks that Flora ever liked James.

At the end of the three weeks, Mum and Dad agreed, so we offered our neighbors to take the dog in.

The woman warned us that the dog was twice as old as James and I, and likely only had another year or so to live. Mum sat us down that night to explain what that meant.

James and I said we still wanted the dog, we wanted to give her the best last year or so we could. We didn't want her to go to a pound, or to a family who wouldn't love her.

So, we took Sammie in.

She was nearly 13 years old when we took her in, and she almost made it to 15.

James and I loved that dog, more than anything, but I had always liked her a little bit more. When she died, I couldn't stop crying for a week.

My parents said I was a sensitive child, and while I had known she would die soon after we got her, I still hadn't wanted her to.

But, one of the things people always assumed that James and I lacked was responsibility. Our teachers and peers always assumed we were irresponsible because we came from a wealthy family. And it wasn't like we could hide that, our father was quite well known for his hair treatment thing that James nor I were interested in. The first month of our first year was extra difficult because of that assumption, our teachers looked at us differently, and they were always extra hard on reminding us about homework. Whenever Professor McGonagall saw me in the hallway, she'd tell me to remember to do my homework. It was frustrating.

Our parents had expected it, so they took any opportunity they could to teach us responsibility and patience. The lessons about patience seemed to be more important in the long run.

James, Lily, and I had a lot of fun trying to cook. My brother was awful, as expected, but Lily caught on quickly and was pretty good at it.

I reminded James that it was no surprise; she was good at everything.

He made an inappropriate joke, which Lily blushed and laughed at. I had simply rolled my eyes. I didn't want to think about relationships. Not since I was certain that Sirius was going to leave me. Why wasn't I more upset?

We had just finished cooking dinner, and I had been at Lily and James' house for nearly three hours when there was a knock on the door. I had been setting the table as Lily grabbed the drinks. James had went to the bathroom, so Lily and I looked at one another with wide eyes. Our minds immediately drifted to the worst case scenario; Death Eaters.

She moved first, quickly moving towards the front door, her wand ready in her hand. I started to feel her magic pulsing through her. I gently floated my marbles onto the table, drawing my own wand and moving into the living room, standing beside the love seat. I peaked around the corner and nodded to Lily. She smiled nervously as she grabbed the door-knob. She slowly turned it, pulling the door open slightly, her wand at the ready. She peaked around the door, looking through the small crack.