Chapter Seventy-eight;

The next morning, Sirius cracked an eye open to come face to face with a puppy who was drooling on the bed panting and not blinking. Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Go away."

"Woof!" Salazar barked.

Sirius sighed. "Aidan! Come get your dog!" Sirius shouted, and got no response. "Damn it…"

"Woof!"

"Shh!"

"Wooof!"

"Stop it! You're going to wake Severus up!" He hissed, turning on his side and frowning when the bed was empty. "Where the hell… oh right, Malfoy…" He sighed, closing his eyes for a minute and when he reopened them Salazar had shifted and was now sitting where Severus slept. Sirius growled, turning into his animagus form.

'Get out of here!' Sirius growled.

'But…'

Sirius' eyebrow rose – if a dog could raise it's eyebrows. 'You can understand me?'

'Of course I can! You're a dog like me!'

'I am not a dog, not really.'

'Aidan won't feed me.'

'How is that my problem?'

'He can't reach the food. We need your help' Salazar pouted, nudging Sirius' paw with his nose.

Sirius sighed. 'Fine.'

He turned back into a human and picked the puppy up, walking out of the room and into the kitchen where Aidan was standing on a chair trying to reach. "Aidan! Get down! That is dangerous!"

Aidan jumped from being startled and leaped onto the ground. "Sorry…"

"Why didn't you come get me?"

"I told Salazar to get you."

"Aidan, your papa is upset about this dog, don't tell Salazar to come into our room or anything, especially when we're sleeping, until I get your papa calmed down. I think he's coming around a bit."

"Okay… Salazar is hungry."

"Okay. Did you eat?" Sirius asked as he grabbed the bag of dog food the house elves had decided to put on the top shelf.

"Yes, papa fed me! Then he left."

"Did he say when he'd be back?"

"Late tonight. Don't wait up." Aidan mimicked Severus as best as he could.

Sirius nodded and let out a sigh after Aidan left the kitchen. He poured the dog food into the bowl and set it on the ground, Salazar shuffling to it and eating like he hadn't ate in years. Sirius watched him eat the food out of the corner of his eyes as he made some coffee – the muggle way of course. He leaned against the counter as it heated up, Salazar just finishing his food as the beep went off. Salazar stared up at Sirius as he poured himself a cup of the black beverage, blowing on it to cool it off before taking a sip and grimacing. "Yuck…" He frowned, pouring it out and sigh. "Should probably tell Sev to make coffee from now on." He pondered aloud, glancing down at Salazar and smiling.

Sirius morphed into the grim and lifted Salazar like a cat would carry it's kitten and walked into the living room. 'Put me down!' Salazar demanded.

'Nope.' Sirius growled, putting Salazar up on the couch next to Aidan who was drawing, his snake wrapped around his wrist protectively.

"Hi, Daddy," Aidan greeted without looking up.

'Come on, I want to go outside,' Sirius barked, pushing his snout against Aidan's leg.

Aidan glanced and watched Sirius walk to the door and scratch. "Oh! Okay!" He jumped down and put his book aside, then grabbed Salazar and walked to the door, opening it and stepping out, dropping Salazar to the ground gently and letting him and Sirius run towards the court-yard entrance together.

The four – Sirius, Aidan, Scylax, and Salazar – spent the whole day outside, running around the shores of the lake, teaching Salazar tricks, even playing with other students when they didn't have class, and Sirius to spend the day with his son canceled his classes which was only two for the day which made most of the students in an amazing mood as they had both Transfiguration and Potions – which Albus refused to attempt to teach – canceled to clear of most of their day.

Nearing lunch time, Hermione, Ron, and Harry brought out a basket from the kitchen the house elves had prepared to have a picnic which they laid out to be under a tree right off the shore and which included a rather large chocolate cake that Aidan had torn into and his face, hands, and shirt had become covered in chocolate – he also refused to share it. Sirius turned into a human and smirked, picking up his rather messy son and whistling for Salazar to follow. "I'm taking him for a bath." Sirius called back, waving to the golden trio before he disappeared into the castle.

"Daddy, I don't want a bath!" Aidan grimaced.

"Why not? Baths are lovely."

"No, I don't like baths."

Sirius sighed. "Not this stage…"

"It's not a stage!"

"You smell, and you're sticky and covered in chocolate."

"I smell like chocolate."

"Because you're covered in it."

"But I still smell delicious. Thus no bath!"

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Thus I'm your father and I say you need a bath so you're getting a bath."

"That's completely asinine."

"It's not unfair, and stop sounding like your papa." Sirius smirked.

Sirius placed his son down on the floor after they entered the chambers and went into Aidan's room. "I'm just going to get your pajamas out, okay? You can wear those since… it's only a few hours until bed time." He kissed Aidan's forehead. "Go get the water started and jump in," Sirius smiled.

Aidan nodded. "Yes, Daddy."

After Aidan walked into the bathroom and closed the door, Sirius grabbed some of his pajamas and laid them out on the bed before walking out of the room and getting Salazar some water. The rest of their evening was quiet, Aidan played with Salazar or lay on the floor drawing on parchment while Sirius caught up on some homework assignments he was behind on grading or just simply read. After Aidan went to bed – of course he cried and put up a fight for ten minutes insisting he stayed up until Severus returned, though Sirius put his foot down and sent him on anyway – Sirius lay out on the couch and hummed to himself, sipping at a glass of firewhiskey.

Before he knew it, the clock chimed midnight and Sirius frowned at the fact that Severus wasn't home yet. "What the hell is kee-" he began but was interrupted by the fireplace lighting up to show someone coming through. Sirius jolted up when something – or someone was thrown through and rolled on the ground until he hit the couch. His eyes widened and he leaped from the couch, crouching down on the floor and turning the man over, his eyes almost instantly filling with tears when he saw it was Severus – and not just normal Severus who tripped, a bloody beaten up Severus who was unconscious.

"Severus?" Sirius shook him a bit and got not response. "Fuck, fuck, fuck…" Sirius chanted over and over as he scooped Severus up into his arms and walked out of the chambers to head to the infirmary. "Whisper!" He called as he walked down the corridor.

Whisper appeared, her eyes widening. "S-sirs, what happened?"

"Calm down, l-listen I don't know. I'm going to the infirmary. Make sure Aidan stays safe, okay? And in bed. I-I'll call you when I know."

Whisper nodded. "Yes, of course Whisper will, sirs!" With that she disappeared.

Sirius turned down the corridor where the infirmary doors were, kicking them open. "Poppy!" He shouted as he rushed to the first bed, conjuring some rags and a bucket of warm water to wipe the blood from Severus' face.

Poppy opened the door in her night clothes glaring, though her expression turned to surprise. "What happened, Sirius?" She gasped as she rushed across the room and began working on Severus, gathering some potions and running charms to check over him.

"I-I don't know! He just came through the floo!"

"The floo? What? Where was he?" Poppy asked in a rush.

Sirius stopped. "Malfoy…" He growled.

Poppy glanced up and saw the expression on Sirius' face, his eyes filled with hatred. "Sirius! You don't know if the Malfoy's did th—"

"Not the Malfoy's! Just Lucius! I'll kill him!" Sirius growled even louder, now gritting his teeth.

"Sirius Calm down!" Poppy pleaded as Sirius crossed the room to leave. Poppy sighed and pulled her wand out. "Stupefy," she whispered, the spell hitting Sirius in the back so he fell to the ground on his stomach unconscious.