Author's Note: Enjoy!

Menagerie

Sirius sat in his bedroom with several books that he had taken from his dad's office. They were all on both magical and non magical creatures, which he needed for...science. He began to scan through the Magical Creatures book-looking for a topic that he was interested in.

"Sirius," Hope said sweetly. The nine year old hadn't even noticed her entering the room. He looked up at her. "Why is there an entire ecosystem in the bathroom?"

"Why are you asking me," Sirius asked innocently as he looked back down at his book.

"Because you, Mum, and I are the only three people who have been here today. I didn't put it there, and I'm sure Mum didn't either."

"You never know," said Sirius, shrugging.

"Mhm," said Hope. "Well, I think it would be whoever had put it there's best interest to clean it up before their Mother comes home and scolds them."

"Better get to work then," said Sirius.

"Sirius, get the frogs and whatever else out of the bathroom before Mum comes home and has a coronary." She shut the door; Sirius huffed as he heard her footsteps retreating back to her bedroom. He tossed the book roughly onto his bed before standing up and reopening the door to his bedroom. He walked down the hallway and into the bathroom that he and all of his siblings share. Of course, Teddy now has his own flat, and AJ was at Hogwarts, leaving only him and Hope at home. Still, during the summers when everyone was home, it was a disaster- especially when AJ decided he cared incredibly about how his hair looked in the morning.

The bathroom was just the way he had left it about an hour ago; nothing was broken and everything was were it was supposed to be. Well...of course with the addition of a few toads, snails, and one caterpillar. Frankly, Sirius didn't see any problem with the new additions. He didn't know what to do with them now; he didn't want to let go of them.

An idea struck him- Sirius ran downstairs and grabbed a large, empty storage container from the coat closet. He carried it into the backyard where he put some sticks, leaves, and grass, along with some water from the spigot on the side of the house. He brought the container to the bathroom before gently placing each animal and insect in there and carrying the bin to his room.

Sirius placed the bin in his closet, leaving the door open, before going back to his bed and returning to his book. He read through it for about another hour when he heard his Mum, rather loudly, make her way through the floo network. Her footsteps could be heard climbing the stairs, so Sirius rushed to shut his closet doors before hopping back onto his bed- just in time for his Mum to open the door.

"Hi Sirius," she said. "What did you get up to today?"

"You know," he replied vaguely, "school, played outside, read some books..."

"Sounds exciting," she said. There was a croak from his closet. Tonks gave her youngest son a curious look, "did you collect anything while outside today?"

"Nope," said Sirius, popping his 'p.' Another croak came from the closet.

"Are you sure," asked Tonks again.

"Yep," said Sirius. Another croak.

"Sirius, are there frogs in your closet?"

"Nope." Another croak.

"Really? Then what's making all of that noise," Tonks asked slowly.

"...A toad..."

"Why is there a toad-"

"-three toads, three snails, and a caterpillar," Sirius added quickly.

"Okay, why is all of Wales' wildlife in your closet?"

"They need homes! They're outside all of the time and they needs homes! It's going to be getting cold soon!"

"Sirius, sweetheart, the outside is there home," explained Tonks. "They live outside; they like being outside. It's not nice to take wild animals ands such out of their homes. You wouldn't like that, right?"

"No," said Sirius, defeated. "But what about Dad's grindylow?"

"The grindylow is different," said Tonks. "He was hurt and wasn't going to survive without help. Your dad helped him."

"But I'm helping the animals," Sirius protested.

Tonks shook her head, "you may think you're helping them, but you're actually doing the opposite. Why don't we put them back outside, so they can go home to their families. Then, you can help me with dinner."

"Okay," Sirius sighed, walking into his closet and grabbing the container. A few of the toads had jumped out of the bin, so Sirius spent a few minutes finding them before he took everything downstairs. He let go of them in their backyard before walking back into the house.

"I'll tell you what," said Tonks. "Research some pets, figure out which one you want, figure out how to properly take care of it, and we'll get you whatever pet you want...with in reason."

"Can I get a dragon," asked Sirius, excitedly.

"We will revisit the words 'with in reason,'" said Tonks with a small laugh.

"What about a bearded dragon," Sirius compromised.

"As long as you know how to take care of it," said Tonks.

"I'll work on it," said Sirius.

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