Interrupting
She was sixteen years old when Sirius asked her to marry him.
"You're daft," she told him, giggling and pulling him in for a kiss.
"I'm in love," he corrected against her lips, and she wound her fingers in his hair and moved infinitesimally closer to him. He wrapped her up and pulled her onto his lap, and then he was everywhere, he was on her lips and her neck and his hands were tracing down her spine to her hips and it all burned red-hot.
"Sirius," she murmured, and it was a half-hearted attempt at getting him to stop but all it did was egg him on. "Sirius, hang on."
He pulled back, but his hands stayed on her waist.
"We can't do this here."
He pressed his lips to her neck. "No?"
She let out a breathy sigh. "What if someone walks in?"
"Who's going to walk in?"
She squirmed out of his arms. "Your mum? Your brother? Your house elf? Did you forget you live in a house full of people?"
He began to brush his fingers along the length of her arm, tracing patterns in her skin that left goosebumps behind. "Marley," he said softly. "Marry me."
A beat. "Right now?" she asked, and her voice was playful and teasing but the question was real.
"Mhm. Right now."
She held up her left hand. "I don't see a ring," she said, wiggling her fourth finger, and her heart was pounding because she thought this was just a game but Sirius didn't look like he was joking.
"Here." He leaned over to dug through the drawer of his night stand and came up with a dusty box. "Will this work?"
She took it from his hand and opened it. Nestled inside was a small silver band with a jade heart clasped between two diamonds. "You're not serious," she said after a moment.
"I am Sirius," he said, and she scoffed at the joke. "Sorry it's green," he added. "Slytherin colors and all that."
"Where did you get this?"
"It was my grandmother's. She wanted it to leave it to Regulus - he's less of a disappointment, being a Slytherin and all - but tradition says it goes to the eldest male, so she gave it to me." He took the ring out of the box. "Give me your hand."
She hid her hands behind her back. "What kind of proposal speech was that?" she asked, and she was whispering and she didn't know why.
He slid off the bed and landed gently on one knee. "Marlene McKinnon." There was no trace of teasing in his eyes. "I have loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you."
"No, you haven't." She forced herself to laugh. "You told me you thought I was stuck up the first day of Charms class."
"I didn't mean it. I loved you even then. I just didn't realize it yet."
"That's - "
"Do you want my proposal speech or not?" he asked, and she closed her mouth. "Thank you. Marlene McKinnon, I have loved you since - "
The door swung open.
"What are you doing in here with her?" Regulus Black asked, leaning his skinny fifteen-year-old frame against the doorway. "You know what Mum said about her."
"Bugger off, Reg," Sirius said, but Regulus didn't move.
"Mum told you not to bring home blood traitors."
"I happen to love this blood traitor," Sirius snapped, and Regulus' eyebrows shot up.
"Mum's going to kill - "
"Merlin, Reg, just go away."
"Is that Grandmum's ring?" Regulus crossed to the bed in three long strides and snatched the box from his brother's hand. "You're giving Grandmum's ring to her?"
"Goodbye, Regulus," Sirius said, seizing him by the shoulders and marching him out of the room.
Marlene watched it all from the bed with a smirk on her face. "See what I mean, about people walking in on us?" she said as he closed the door.
"That could have been bad," he admitted as he rejoining her on the bed.
She laughed. "Thank Merlin you were only proposing." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "We need a place," she said. "Somewhere where we know we'll be totally alone. No interruptions. Just you and me."
"Just you and me," he repeated. "I love the sound of that." He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, and then he jumped off the bed and offered her his hand. "Come with me."
"Where?"
He grabbed her wrists and tugged until she slid to the floor. "I think I have just the place for us."
"Morsmordre," Sirius said, aiming his wand at the sky above the cabin. A green haze of smoke unfurled from his wand and wove itself into a Dark Mark.
"Underage magic outside of school?" Marlene said, leaning against Sirius' motorcycle a few feet away. "And conjuring the Dark Mark? I believe this makes you a felon, Sirius Black."
"If I go to Azkaban, I'm taking you down with me," he said, beckoning her into the cabin. "You went along with this. Aiding and abetting."
"I didn't know you were going to cast the bloody Dark Mark!"
"What better way to keep people away?" He closed the door, leaving them in near-darkness. "The Ministry will show up eventually, of course, but not for hours and hours. . . ." With each word, he pressed a new kiss into the sensitive skin of her neck.
"What is this place?" she asked.
"It's abandoned. It's been abandoned for ages. James Potter and I found it years ago, we think it used to belong to muggles." He guided her to a bed in the corner. "What do you think?"
She leaned back against the pillow and pulled him on top of her. "It's perfect," she breathed against his lips.
"And maybe," he whispered, "someday, it could be ours. When you marry me."
She let out a breathless laugh as he wound his hands up in her hair. "I don't think I ever gave you an answer about that."
"And Reg walked out with the ring." Sirius swore gently. "Oh well. We don't need a ring. We just need a promise."
"Go on, then. Finish your speech, and we'll see if I feel like promising you anything."
"Marlene McKinnon. I have loved you - "
"You aren't on one knee," she interrupted.
"I know." His voice wavered so slightly that she thought she might have imagined it. "I don't want to be that far away from you. I like it right here. Is that okay?"
She licked her lips. "That's okay."
"Good. Okay. Marley. I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love another person. I always sort of thought I'd end up alone, you know? Everyone tells me I'm going to end up alone. Because I'm - I'm Sirius Black. I'm the one who isn't serious. People don't think I'm the type to settle down. I can't stand still, I have to keep moving, I like thrills and danger and - and - and so do you, I think, at least a little bit, or you wouldn't be trespassing in a cabin with me while the Dark Mark shines above us. But I'm so glad you're here, I'm so glad you wanted me just as much as I wanted you, because I don't want to be alone, I want to be reckless and wild and un-serious with someone, and I can't think of a more beautiful soul I'd rather do all of that with than yours. I - Merlin, I'm crying," he said, and he sounded shocked.
"Keep going," she whispered.
"I love you, Marley, and I'm not the type to settle down, but when I look at you, I want to settle down. I want to spend every moment I have left with you. And if we get arrested tonight for breaking into this cabin - " (she laughed) " - I will gladly rot in Azkaban as long as you say you feel the same way."
She didn't say anything.
"This is the part where you tell me whether you'll marry me," he said.
"You didn't ask yet," she whispered.
"Oh. Marlene McKinnon, will you do me the absolute honor of - "
She kissed him hard.
Quidditch League, Round 8
Position: Keeper
Word Count: 1,371
Prompt: Write a fluffy piece including Morsmordre (Dark Mark)