Little Mischiefs [Inglorious Bastards/Black Anthology | HP Fanfic]

+ What if?: Harry Lived with Emmanuelle and Sirius? [Part 4]

~ 1995 ~

The summer was hotter than usual. Any simple movement done would have Harry sweating through his shirt, he even claimed that a quick trip to the old dance school his grandmother used to run would cause pit stains. Though Carina insisted that he would just wear a tank top or something, much like their father who would not have second thoughts in wearing his beach top when in the house which shows off his tattoos on his body, and as well as the Azkaban prisoner mark on the base of his neck, Harry would still stick to wearing t-shirts. The closest effort he would make to give himself some relief from the heat would have been the beach shorts and wearing sandals. It was needed since he and his siblings were frequent visitors of the beach.

It took a lot of convincing from his parents, but Harry managed to get them to say yes to let him and his siblings to go to the beach. Sirius offered to drive them but Harry said that they would just use their bicycles to get there. Stopping by at the Estate to pick up Maisie – Tom and Charity decided to move back to the Estate to be closer to Louise who was growing weaker everyday – the children rode their bikes to the barrier of the Magical Community of Ottery St. Catchpole.

The beach was, uncharacteristically, deserted at the time which gave them the freedom to pick their perfect spot. Being the eldest, Carina would always remind them put on sunblock before jumping into the water, and at that time, under the umbrella, Harry watched as his sister rubbed lotion on Deimos who wanted to join Maisie swimming. Once he was finished, Deimos bolted, bringing his little surfboard with him and joined Maisie to ride some waves.

Harry smiled at the sight of Deimos and Maisie surfing on the small waves that came.

"I'm going to catch some waves, you?" Carina asked him to pull up the zipper of her rush guard.

"I think I'll just stay here for a while," Harry told her.

"Harry..."

"I'll catch up... I promise."

Reluctantly, Carina got up from the blanket, she made sure to mess with his hair before taking the surfboard and then joining Deimos and Maisie in the water. Harry watched as his sister surfed the waves without boldly. She would do flips with the board, some times she would ride with Maisie and Deimos. He could remember the time Sirius first taught them how to surf. They were around six or seven at the time and Sirius bought them mini foam boards to practice. Carina was a fast learner and was already standing on the board while he kept on toppling over. Since that day he would always insist they go to the beach so he could practice, and he did not stop until he finally rode his first wave.

The thought of his parents did not improve his mood. Since he and Carina came back from Hogwarts, his parents were making up excuses to leave the house. He was used to his mother leaving for her job everyday but this time, he noticed that she no longer brings her camera or her bag that had all of her documents and other materials for her shoot. Instead, Emmanuelle would leave with Sirius with only her wand, and the two would not be back until evening and they would always look tired. When Harry would asked, they would have a reluctant or an apologetic look and say that it was nothing or "just a long day in the Ministry" and nothing more.

Then there were times when he and his siblings would hear their parents argue in the middle of the night. And it would always be about him and Dumbledore. He tried to make his parents tell him what was wrong but Emmanuelle and Sirius would always catch him and his little mind-tricks and change the subject immediately or Emmanuelle would tell him that everything was alright, but whenever she does Harry would see the disappointed look at Sirius' face. Clearly things were not fine. It hasn't been since the return of Voldemort.