Christmas Time is for Lovers
"You know Lil, I never did give you your Christmas present," Sirius drawled as he pulled his young lover close to him.
"You mean what we just did wasn't my gift?" Lily replied coyly as she stroked the hair on his chest.
"Sadly no…even though it was quite incredible if I don't say so my self," Sirius replied with a smug smirk before untangling his weak body from Lily's and walking over to his pants that were discarded haphazardly on the floor. He rummaged around in his pockets for a few moments before picking up a small parcel and enlarging it to normal size before presenting it to Lily.
"It's not much," He started with a shrug, "But it means a lot to me and you're the only one I want to have it." He tentively shoved a small wrapped parasol into Lily's hands, his eyes not meeting hers but rather focusing on the threads of the golden comforter.
Lily tenderly took the wrapped package into her hands and studied it for a moment, moving it in her hands and examining it from all angles. She gently tugged at the green bow so that it slackened and allowed her to pull it off the silver wrapping paper. The silver wrapping paper fell away revealing a small, velvet box that was unmistakably a ring box.
"Sirius," Lily commented as she stared wide-eyed up at her crazed lover.
"Just open it," Sirius pleaded as he pushed the ring box toward her skeptical eyes and silently pleaded with her to put him out of his misery and just open it already.
"Alright," Lily sighed as she looked at him skeptically before taking the box into her hands. She knew that if she opened this, that it would certainly change the whole dynamic of their relationship and that after this there will be no going back.
Gently lifting up the lid, Lily gasped at the sight before her. Inside the ring box was a delicate, silver antique claddagh ring with a black jewel sitting in the middle of the heart. Lily looked back and forth between her lover and the gift, guilt running ramped threw her beautiful orbs.
It wasn't that Lily didn't like the gift, she loved it, but she also knew that she didn't deserve it.
"Sirius, I cant," Lily said softly, breathing ragged as her brows furrowed as she willed herself not to cry. "It'll only make it harder in the end."
That last sentence that was emanated out of Lily's mouth hit Sirius like the killing curse. He always new that it would come down to this, he'd be a fool not to, but he just didn't think that it would be this soon.
"Lils, just listen to me." He began as he climb onto the bed, taking the spot next to her. "I know you are with James and that in the end it probably will always be him."
Lily started to protest but Sirius put a stop to it with one look in her direction. "I may not be as intelligent as you but I am by no means a dumb git. You and I both love James too much to hurt him by breaking his heart." Both he and Lily smiled bitterly at this.
"But, in spite of all of this, you must know how I feel. I need you to know how I feel." Sirius croaked out, desperation lacing his every word. Tears were coming now, he could feel them, and a renewed sense of desperation hit him as he clasped tightly onto her hands. "I'm yours Lily, in every way a person can be to another, I am yours." Sirius said with a sad, knowing smile as he nuzzled the soft curve of her pale neck. "Where it please?" he continued as she cupped her face in his large hand, moving her face so that they were looking at each other in the eye. "James doesn't know it exists, and the selfish part of me needs to know that some part of your heart will love me, even if it just a tiny part, when this all ends and you go back to James. To remind us of what we had and what it is never possible for us to achieve."
By this point tears were flowing freely out of Lily's beautiful emerald eyes as she nodded her head slowly, accepting Sirius's offer, allowing him to take the ring from the box, and slide it onto her finger. Once the ring was on, Lily gently cupped Sirius's face and pulled him into a slow, lingering kiss. As her lips moved slowly against his, she thought about how effortlessly she had given her self to him and about just how much of her heart he didn't realize that he had.
"I love you Siri," Lily whispered as she snuggled into his jet-black hair.
"And I love you my Lily-flower," He ever so softly whispered, the words becoming lost in her silky red locks. Sirius slowly slid out of bed and languidly strode back over to his pants. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out an identical black velvet ring box. Opening the box, he pulled out an identical silver ring and slipped in onto his own finger.
Sliding down the bed, Sirius wrapped his arms around Lily and pulled her close to him. He was no fool, he knew that this fairytale he was living was going to have to stop sooner rather than later, and in the very near future he was going to wake up and realize that he was alone.
After a pregnant pause, Sirius glanced down at her, "You know there's a story to these rings."
"Really," Lily questioned with excitement in her eyes. She always loved things with a history.
"Yea, they were my grandfathers," Sirius said with a sigh. Sirius Black Sr. was the only member of his family who had ever really loved him and accepted him for who he was. He was too old to care about the war or Voldermort, and thought that the rift between purebloods and muggle borns was ludicrous. Needless to say, he wasn't liked by any of the other Black members except Sirius. Sirius agreed with him on almost every issue, and looked up to him for everything, especially on how to treat the muggle borns. To both of them a wizard was a wizard no matter whom you were born too.
"What do you mean were?"
"Well…" Sirius began, dragging out the word, "He gave them to me shortly before he died. Said that I was the 'only true honorable Black,'" he continued doing his best interpretation of a haughty northern British accent, scrunching his nose as he did so. "Said that I should give them to my true love, so that I may achieve the happiness that he was never allowed to have." Sirius finished, obviously sobering up, as he absentmindedly fiddled his own ring.
"What happened to his love Siri?" Lily questioned tentatively, almost afraid to know the answer. Lily gently stroked up and down his arms, just barely touching him with the tips of her fingers. This continued motion combined with soft whispers of encouragement, Sirius was able to push down the lump in his throat and continue.
"She died," Sirius said softly, shutting his eyes and envisioning the hurt that his grandfather must have gone through as he watched his first love slowly drift away in his arms. "Not a year into their marriage. I remember when my grandfather used to think about her, you could always tell," Sirius said with a sad smile as he thought fondly of his grandfather. "He would adopt this bittersweet, glossy look in his eye as he stared off into no-where. As if he was seeing something so remarkably beautiful that it brought tears to his eyes. I was always jealous because I never saw what he was seeing. He told me that only when I was truly in-love could I uncover that look." Sirius said as his eyes bore into Lily, letting her know without words that he had found what he was looking for in those emerald gems of hers. "He would do anything with her, without question; that's how selfless his love was for her. She was half-muggle so when they went to get the wedding rings, she asked for this inscription to be engraved on the back." Sirius took off his ring so that he could show Lily what he meant. On the underside of both their rings bore the inscription, I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.
Later that night when Sirius was fast asleep Lily silently slipped out of the soft red sheets and made her way back over to the window. So many nights were spent sitting on this very windowsill over the last seven years and Lily hated to think about how it was all going to end very soon. They were graduating in a few months and out into the wizarding world, where the threat of the Dark Lord was even more present than it was behind the protective walls of Hogwarts.
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Isolde played with a long wavy lock as she watched Remus intently from her spot up against the bathroom door. Her green eyes swam with concern as she watched Remus stare anxiously out the window while repeatedly running a hand through his sandy locks. He had been sitting there for a better part of an hour and Isolde was starting to worry. Isolde sauntered over to where Remus was sitting and sat down on the soft bed without a word, just a worried look etched across her soft features.
Remus smiled gratefully at his love as he felt her small, delicate hands move up his aching back in the most soothing manner. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, his body ached. He hadn't slept or eaten since Sirius owled him saying that he planned on giving Lily the eternity ring. As much as Remus loved Sirius, he couldn't help but think that he was being a foolish and incredibly selfish git for what he was doing. Lily belonged with and quite frankly too James. The last thing Remus wanted to do was sound barbaric but it seemed perfectly clear to him and everyone else in Hogwarts (with the exception of Padfoot) that Lily and James were destined for one another. Originally when Sirius approached him three months ago and told him that he was having a secret affair with Lily, Remus pushed it aside chalking it up to a one time deal.
Although Sirius never brought it up again, Remus began to watch. He watched the secret side glances that they would give each other when they swore no one was looking. The soft brushes of the hands and the promises of something more later; Remus caught it all. Remus let it all happen in the beginning, after all it wasn't supposed to be anything serious and he expected it to be over in a few short weeks, a mistake realized, no harm, no foul. But it didn't stop, it only progressed into something deeper and more meaningful then James and Lily, which concerned Remus more and more with every passing day.
"Don't they see what they are doing?" Remus questioned passionately to no one in particular, "they are going to ruin everything Isolde, everything in an instant. All that will be left with be three shattered hearts, a dozen or so broken friendships and a pile of ash on the ground of all the bridges that will be burned."
