Chapter 59: Strange Pets
"Looks like this poor doggie got no owner." Stefanie said, playing with the calico Chiwawa on the floor.
"We were pretty sure of that before we brought it back." Lily said, clapping her hands to attract the dog's attention.
"You guys are taking forever to name the dog." James said, sitting at another corner, trying to attract the attention of the dog but the dog went to Lily instead.
"Name him Serious." Sirius said, sitting some distance away from the dog. He was not afraid of dogs, but the Chiwawa seems to be a little scared if Sirius instead. It was probably because since James and Lily brought back the dog a couple of days ago, Sirius had started chasing the dog around the beach house. Arabella and Sirius had been arguing non-stop until the Chiwawa came to divert his attention, which made him, lost the argument.
"You wanted a dog to name after you??" James teased.
"Why not?? All dogs should obey Sirius the Great Dog." Sirius boasted.
"Ahem." Remus coughed to get Sirius' attention. "Seriously I don't think you'll want the dog to name after you because next time if we ever call Sirius, both you and the dog will respond to it."
"Good point." Sirius said, stroking his chin.
"Please name him anything but Sirius Edward Black." Arabella said, currently having the dog on her lap. "Nothing should be named after him. It ruins the reputation."
"Hey. Being Sirius Black is something everyone dying to be."
"I definitely don't think I want to be Sirius Black." Arabella rolled her eyes.
"Neither do I. I'm a happy James Potter here."
"I rather be Remus Lupin than to be named Sirius Black."
"Frankly I'm happier being Stefanie Black."
"Count me out from being named Sirius Black."
"How could you guys, my very best friends, say something like this??" Sirius whined dramatically.
"So can we find a better name for the dog other than Serious or Sirius??" Stefanie asked suggestively.
"How about a cute name??"
"Cutie??" Sirius suggested.
"Cute name doesn't necessary mean must include the word cute. Just like seriousness doesn't mean Sirius is anywhere near there."
"Nemo??"
"Cute name. But it sounded more suitable for something like, erm, fish??"
"Brownie??" Arabella suggested.
"Sounds like some sort of food."
"It is a type of food."
"Must be a name that everyone agree to it."
"Sunny??"
"It doesn't seem very appropriate." Remus commented, eyeing the calico Chiwawa.
"Is it a magical dog??"
"I don't know. We found it yapping so softly around the beach house some distance away from here. The house was empty."
"Within the magical community??"
"Not really. Somewhere in between."
"Well. We can go Magical Menagerie to check it out next time."
"Naming the dog please."
"How about Water??"
"It doesn't look anywhere near drinkable." Lily remarked. "Not fluid-like and definitely doesn't have the water characteristics."
"What characteristics then??"
"Dark patches around."
"Whitish parts seem scarce."
"Tail looked a little injured."
"Seems to wimp a little."
"Not a very happy dog."
"I've the ultimate cute and suitable name for the dog." James said suddenly.
"What??" The five asked.
"Doggie!!" James announced and he earned three cushions from Sirius, Remus and Lily. And they broke into laughter.
"Ultimate name huh??"
"Cute right??"
"Can you come up with something better??"
"How about icy??"
"No good."
"You might as well as name it fishy."
"That reminds me. Jamesie, Remmy, don't forget to go fishing tomorrow??"
"What's your sudden interest in fishing??"
"Can I develop that interest??"
"Fishing is something very un-Sirius-like."
"It's a serious hobby."
"That's why it's un-Sirius-like."
"Anyway fishing tomorrow??"
"See who catches the most fishes."
"I owled Fion to ask her send some high quality fishing equipments over including baits and stuffs."
"When did you owl her?? How come I wasn't
informed??"
"So protective of your older sister huh."
"I'm not. Just curious."
"Yesterday before I sleep."
"Did you??"
"James was sleeping like a pig while Remus was in the bathroom."
"No wonder."
"Anyway Fion knows about fishing, doesn't she??"
"I think should be. She mentioned about fishing with Gabriel before."
"That would be brilliant."
"By the way, guys, can be go back to naming the dog??" Stefanie voiced out to get the attention from the three guys.
"Oh ya. Sirius, please talk about fishing later." Lily agreed with Stefanie.
"Yeah Sirius, shut up on you and your fishes." Arabella rolled her eyes.
"Hey, we're going fishing somewhere in the next few days."
"We already know that."
"You've already said it like a thousand times since two days ago."
"Hellooo?? Name the dog??" Lily called out again.
"Oh yeah. So any other cute name??"
"I've got it. What about Majesty??"
"Sirius, Chiwawa don't look very erm, majestic??"
"How about desire??"
"What desire??"
"Desire for dogs??"
"Sirius, you desire for dogs??"
"How about Queen??"
"SIRIUS!!"
"It's a male!!"
"Okok."
"What about cloudy??"
"Sounds depressing."
"Reminds me of Volcano."
"Yeah, dark and gloomy days."
"How about name him Voldie??" James suddenly suggested out.
"Voldie. Hmm." Sirius grinned at the name.
"Great name!!" Remus said agreeing.
"It can't get any better." Stefanie laughed.
"So he shall be Voldie." Lily said. "Voldie, come here." Lily clapped to get the attention of the dog from Remus.
"Voldie Voldie." Arabella called the dog and lifted him up. "This shall be Voldie the Chiwawa!!" She announced.
"Voldie, come here." Sirius called to get the hyperactive dog attention.
"Sirius, why are you fighting with me for Voldie's attention??" Arabella argued.
"Not again." Lily muttered. James, Remus and Stefanie heard her comment and laughed. The next thing that happened was James and Remus pulled Sirius along with them back to their room leaving the three girls and Voldie in the common room.
"Trust me." Sirius said in a super soothing tone.
"The problem why we can't have trust because it's you." James pointed out. The three guys were out in a little motorboat, which was magically steered, all thanks to Fion and her magical ability. "Rem, brought your wand??"
"How can I forget??" Remus said. "My life is at stake."
"C'mon, trust me with this fishing trip." Sirius said. "I had volunteered to steer this thing and you guys insisted on using magic. Fion isn't hundred percent sure it is safe either."
"That's why we brought our wands." Remus reasoned.
"By the way, this is a motorboat, not just a thing." James said. "I don't know if I can trust you to use this if you don't even know what it is called."
"Hey, you two are supposed to be my best friends!!"
"We are. That's why we ended up risking our life out here in some part of pacific."
"That's so sweet."
"Don't sweet talk me."
"Rem, you went fishing before right??"
"Yeah, with my dad. But that was ages ago."
"Remember how??"
"He connects a lot of stuffs and then fixed the bait and just threw the thing inside the sea."
"That really helps."
"Don't expect me to remember something that happened when I was ten."
"You are only sixteen!!"
"That was six years ago!!"
"Ok, Fion had so kindly got everything nicely fixed for us." James said, eyeing the long fishing rod. He had gone fishing barely three times in his whole life and he had never exactly fished anything before. "There's the weight and hook and stuffs. Just put this little prawn as the bait and then throw this in."
"I think this is it. Fion said something like that right??"
"Think so. Might as well give it a try."
"We will not return empty handed." Sirius boasted.
"It's too early to say." James taunted.
"Well, it's about eleven already." Sirius said, checking his blue Baby-G watch. That seems to signify the end of their little conversation because Fion had said that chattering would scare the fishes
"Voldie, come here." Lily clapped and the Chiwawa raced across the room towards here. "Seems like he recognize his name as Voldie already."
"How can he not know?? We had been calling him for the last couple of days. Basically the name Voldie appears more than any of us." Stefanie joked, pouring some fresh water to Voldie's dish.
"Voldie, lie down here." Arabella called and Voldie ran across the room towards Arabella and hopped onto a little cushioned basket, which Arabella had just arranged.
"I wonder how are the guys doing."
"They should be fine."
"Well, who cares what they are doing in the middle of Pacific."
"They are not in the middle of the ocean."
"Well, does it matter??"
"What's with you and Sirius??"
"Don't know."
"Don't bluff."
"Don't deny."
"Really nothing."
"As if we are going to believe."
"Can help if you don't."
"One more week before the holiday ends."
"It's quite fast."
"We gotta return so Remus can transform."
"Oh ya, I kinda forgot about it."
"Stef can remind us."
"So how things between you and Remus??"
"Nothing much." Stefanie blushed and looked away, pretended to be busied stroking Voldie.
"Are you sure?? Why are you blushing so much??"
"Really nothing."
"What are you two admitting there's something going on between you and Sirius." Lily said. "And you with Remus??"
"There's nothing between me and Sirius, puh-lease."
"Aha, something between Stef and Remus."
"Nothing. Really."
"Oh yeah??" Lily confronted Stefanie, who was trying to look away.
"Admit it. What did you two do that night at the beach??"
"You two went to the beach alone??" Arabella said, but did not appear to be very shocked. "How come I was not informed??"
"You were busy arguing with Sirius."
"Oh, that night."
"Yeah."
"So what happened??"
"We, erm, talked??"
"And then??"
"Look at stars."
"And??"
"The moon."
"And??"
"The dark sky??"
"And then??"
"The sea??"
"STEF!!"
"Okok, we looked at each other."
"And??"
"Well, nothing much already."
"Don't bluff."
"C'mon."
"Okok, we kissed."
"OOOooo!!"
"Why didn't you tell us earlier??"
"Well, I don't know."
"Aha, I knew it."
"Then why didn't you say earlier??"
"What's the point?? What meant to happen
will happen."
"Then what's going to happen next."
"I don't wanna say. We live our life till the end ourselves. If someone tell you the outcome of a story, that gonna spoil everything."
"But you know your own outcome??"
"Yes, and I try not to remember it as well."
"Anyway, back to you two."
"What again?? That's all."
"What did you two do after that??"
"Nothing already." Stefanie admitted. "I already said everything."
"Ok, now for the details."
"First thing first, how did Remus initiate the kiss??" Lily asked cheekily. Voldie was not getting as much attention as he wanted and started yapping around to make the three gossiping girls notice him.
"I can't believe it." Sirius whined.
"Why not??" James asked. The three boys were now returning to the mainland after several hours of fishing. It was getting dark and James and Remus managed to persuade Sirius to return.
"Well, you caught something." Remus comforted jokingly.
"It's only a squid!!"
"At least that's something!!"
"No!! I want to catch a fish."
"You can have a few of ours if you wanna save your pride in front of Arabella."
"Thanks. Can I have half of yours??" Sirius turned to James. "And yours too." He asked Remus.
"Are you mad?? That's like ten fishes??" James pretended to be shocked. He had caught eight while Remus caught twelve.
"Well, to show that I can fish."
"The problem is that you can't!!"
"C'mon."
"Whatever, he needs it."
"Thanks guys." Sirius scooped the four smallest fishes from James and six of the largest fish from Remus.
"What's with the size??"
"To show Arabella that I can catch fishes of all types and sizes."
"Whatever." James muttered, holding his much lighter Styrofoam box of fishes.
"And there is this cute little squid which I'm going to make it my new pet."
"Yeah, and it will die in a week by your care."
"Handsome is still surviving well under my care." Sirius defended. Handsome was Sirius' owl, which no one agreed that it was handsome at all. Or perhaps no one used the word handsome to describe an owl.
"That's because he's smart enough to fly around and hunt for his own food."
"Maybe I should have named him Smarty instead."
"Are you sure you caught all these ten fishes by yourself??" Arabella asked Sirius suspiciously.
"Definitely. I can be a great fisherman you know." Sirius boasted. James and Remus were pretending to cough to stifle their laughter.
"And this miniature squid??"
"Yeah, by me as well."
"I see."
"So what are you going to do with all these fishes??"
"Cook them??"
"How do you guys know if they're edible??"
"Ask Fion??"
"Can you all please don't think Fion is anywhere near a genius or something??"
"She is smart and knowledgeable."
"She is far from that."
"She's a great lady."
"Small would be more suitable."
"Anyway what do you think is the best name for a squid??"
"Who bother about a squid??"
"It's my squid!!"
"Then the fishes??"
"Mine too." Sirius said smoothly. "The squid was the first thing I caught."
"Then keep it in a tank or something."
"Aww, squidty, they wanna ill-treat you."
"Well, you take care of it yourself then, since you're so protective."
"It's a vulnerable little thing."
"Well, you caught it."
"Then I shall name it."
"Suits you."
"It shall be Giant the Squid!!" Sirius announced to his five friends. James and Remus almost choked from drinking water because that was such a huge irony.
"That's erm, a strange name for it." Lily said, looking very amused at the extremely tiny squid squirming around in a big plastic bag.
"It's a great name, right??"
"If you say so."
"Where are you going to keep it??"
"Not in the plastic bag I hope."
"I go and find a tank in the storeroom. I know there is."
"No one is stopping you."
"Voldie, come with me to the storeroom!!" Voldie dashed towards Sirius and followed him excitedly towards the storeroom.