Chapter Seventy-seven;

"Oh! This one!" Aidan said gleefully as he rushed over to a cage with a rather large dog in it.

Sirius grinned and followed his son inside the store and over to the cage. "I don't think papa will let us get that one."

"Your damn right I won't." Severus scowled. "That's a shepherd, Sirius! They get /really/ big…"

"But papa, Hogwarts is really big!" Aidan frowned.

"Our chambers aren't."

"But papa… it's just one dog." Aidan retorted.

"I said no. We're not getting anything big so it can fight Sirius for dominance." He smirked, passing the two up and browsing the cages. "Here, get this one." He pointed to a small puppy.

"What kind is it?" Aidan asked as he rushed over and glanced into the cage and picking up the puppy, grimacing. "Ew! This dog is ugly!" He glared.

"It's… a bull terrier." Sirius read the sign, frowning. "Put that dog back, we're not getting that one."

"Sirius, it's small…" Severus growled.

"Yeah but we want something cute and adorable." Sirius said, picking up his son and continuing their search.

"Daddy… I read… um about golden retrievers." Aidan whispered, pouting.

"You know your papa won't agree to that… he freaked at the german one over there…" Sirius sighed.

"But dad… they're good dogs, and really smart, and they don't get that big, please?" Aidan whined.

"What is he whispering to you, Sirius?" Severus asked as he stood beside them, narrowing his eyes.

"He wants a golden retriever."

"Absolutely not."

"Papa!" Aidan whined.

"No! Aidan, small. Retrievers are not small!"

"It's not fair! I don't want one!" Aidan shouted, pushing his face into Sirius' chest.

"Fine. We'll go home now." Severus rolled his eyes, tired of the childish antics so he turned around and walked out of the store.

Aidan began to sob. "D-dad…" He hugged Sirius tightly.

Sirius frowned and placed a kiss to Aidan's head. "Shhh, it's okay."

"B-but… but I just… I want this kind of dog! They're go-good dogs!"

Sirius huffed. "And that is the kind of dog you'll get. Severus is being ridiculous on this size thing." Sirius declared, walking up to the counter. "Excuse me, do you have any… golden retreievers?"

The man glanced up from his newspaper and smiled. "'Course, white un' and a golden."

"White, daddy!" Aidan smiled.

"The white one, sir." Sirius nodded, putting Aidan down. "Go pick a collar out and some stuff for it, we need a doggy bowl and everything."

"Thank you, Daddy." Aidan beamed, running through the store and picking out various things.

After the dog was purchased – which was quite small being a nine week old puppy and Sirius scoffed at the fact that Severus was worried, they stepped out of the shop to find a very angry Severus with his arms crossed waiting for them. As Severus turned to look at them his eyes widened at the beast on the leash that Aidan was holding and his eyes narrowed into slits. "You…" He hissed.

"We bought the dog. His name is Salazar." Sirius glared back at his husband.

"Just undermine my authority and any decision I make. Good job, Sirius." Severus nodded, turning on his heel and walking towards the Leaky Cauldron.

"Where are you going? I'm not eating at the cauldron."

"I'm going /home/, Sirius. You two can go eat by yourselves." Severus spat, walking into the Leaky Cauldron to floo home.

Sirius sighed and picked his son up in his free hand and began to walk down the street, wondering where they could eat which allowed dogs. They settled for an establishment that was quite well lit outside and had a few outside tables. Sirius sat Aidan down and placed a kiss to the top of his head before scooting in next to him, the puppy laying down on the ground and falling asleep almost instantly. He briefly glanced at the menu, deciding it best not to piss Severus off any more, he settled on fish and chips for dinner.

The meal was spent with Sirius swatting at Aidan's hand every few minutes when he tried to feed Salazar a chip throughout the meal, and Sirius' thoughts wondering what Severus was doing. He smiled as Aidan finally finished all his food and none given to the dog which Sirius considered an achievement and so Sirius paid the money and laid it on the table, picking his son up and clucking his tongue to wake the dog up so the puppy would follow them as they walked into an alley. Sirius lifted the dog into his hands as well before apparating away to the Hogwarts.

The trio traveled to their chambers, Sirius putting Aidan down and handing him the puppy. "Go to bed. The dog sleeps in his doggy bed, on the floor next to your bed, understood?" Sirius asked and Aidan nodded sleepily as he placed a kiss to Sirius' cheek before walking to his room to get ready for bed. Sirius let out a yawn and stood straight, stretching his arms and then noticing the pillow and folded blanket on the couch. He gave a scowl and crossed the room, opening up their bedroom door and frowning as the lights were off.

"Sev?" He called as he stepped inside and waved his hand, lighting up two candles. The body under the covers shifted and Sirius smiled, crossing the room and taking his shirt off and pants, crawling into bed and snapping his fingers, the lights extinguishing. He pulled Severus to him and placed a kiss to his head, receiving a grunt as a reply. "I love you, night."

Severus huffed. "I have to go to Malfoy Manor tomorrow."

"Wh-what?" Sirius asked as he sat up. "Why?"

"I have to finish a potion. More like an experiment but it's almost done. It'll only take a few hours."

"Sev, you're preg—"

"I'm perfectly fine! I can brew for a few months still."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "I don't like Malfoy."

"I don't care what you like, just as you don't care what I say."

"Sev—"

"Sirius I didn't want a big dog…"

Sirius sighed. "I'm sorry… he was crying…"

"Sirius, you dolt. Of course he was crying!" Severus sat up, glaring. "Kids cry when they don't get their way and then act like brats, like saying they don't want something when they do. Then when you get home, they decide something is better than nothing and so they agree to your terms. You don't cave!" Severus hissed.

"I'm sorry… listen, we'll take the dog ba—"

"No we won't."

"But you said…"

"I know damn well what I said. Sirius, if you take that dog back, Aidan will cry for days. And then he'll hate me."

"I'll tell him I changed my mi—"

"No! It's done with. He keeps the dog. My opinion obviously means not—" Severus began but was interrupted by a kiss.

Sirius pulled back, smiling. "Your opinion means everything to me, love. I'm sorry. It won't happen again, okay?" Sirius assured him.

"It… it better not…" Severus hissed, laying back in the bed and pulling Sirius to lay next to him.

"Love you, dear."

"I love you too, Sirius." Severus mumbled as he nuzzled Sirius' chest and fell asleep.