I hate Hellhounds, including Caleb and Sirius. It's nothing against them, really. I just don't like Hellhounds or any supernatural creature. It's the job, the instincts and training of it. Of course, ever since Magnus and Caleb started dating, I've had to deal with Hellhounds and the Devil himself so I suppose I've gotten somewhat used to them…

I still don't like Hellhounds, though. Particularly Sirius. Caleb's…well, I can deal with him. He's an underhanded sneak who replaces my shampoo with hair dye and changes my cell phone ring tones, but that's fine because I give him cupcakes filled with salt and throw holy water balloons at him so we're even. Caleb--though I'll never admit it--is kind of fun to hang out with, if only because pulling pranks on him and with him is cool.

Sirius, on the other hand….

Well, he's clingy and timid. Scared of his own shadow, whiny, completely clueless about almost everything, easily excitable…in short: annoying. He shouldn't be that way since he's fourteen in appearance and three-hundred-something in actuality so he should be more mature than the way he acts.

Still, even though I don't like him that much, seeing him sad is just flat-out depressing.

Magnus had taken Caleb out for a date. Well, they called it a date, but really, Caleb just wanted to go somewhere with Magnus so he could break down and cry without letting me, Louis, or Sirius see. After all, he didn't want to act like it was a big deal, didn't want to act like he was going to miss her, didn't want to act like a seventeen-year-old kid who'd just lost the mother he hadn't seen since he'd been a puppy.

Louis had gone out to a bar for a drink since he was upset too. Of course, he was upset because he knew how badly the death had effected Caleb and Sirius. Considering the way that fight turned out and how stressful it had been for all of us, it was understandable that he'd need a drink. Hell, I think we all could have used a drink at that point….

So, since Louis was getting drunk and Magnus was off with Caleb, I was watching over Sirius. Usually, I don't interact with him much and I was more than willing to just sit on my bed and ignore him as long as he didn't get all clingy with me. I turned on the TV and started channel-flipping, trying to find something worth watching.

It was so quiet in the room it was like he wasn't even there. I glanced over at him, just to make sure that he was still there. He was still curled up on Magnus and Caleb's bed, looking utterly depressed. He had every right to be depressed, having lost his mother, but…

But seeing him looking so miserable, so heartbroken like he'd never be happy ever again…damn. That just tugged at my heartstrings.

"Hey, runt?" He looked at me. "I know you're upset about your mom and that's normal, but she wouldn't want you to be so miserable. She'd want you to remember the good times, remember how much you loved her and how much she cared about you."

He looked away. I frowned, seeing the tears in his eyes. "Sirius? Smile for me, please?"

After a few minutes with no reaction from him, I went back to watching TV, some cartoon show I think. I glanced over at Sirius and noticed he was watching the show too, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Hey, squirt?" He looked at me and I gave him a small smile. "Want to come over here? You can see the TV better…"

He pounced on the bed and curled up beside me, using my shoulder as a pillow and smiling at the show we were watching. Keep in mind, I wouldn't be letting him cuddle with me if I wasn't so desperate to see him smile again and, if anyone had come in the room at that moment, I would have denied letting him curl up with me. I would have denied that as much as I hated to see him so chipper and bouncing off the walls, I hated to see him sad and depressed even more.