A/N Hello, everybody, sorry about the slight lateness. I have returned from vacation however so all stories should be getting back on track.
Thanks to All Reviewers!
Dedication: to do i need a pen name/Margaret, one of my amazing friends who threw me a lovely suprise party on Friday. :)
Disclaimer: I only own Marlene's family who are joint property of do i need a pen name and I.
The funeral was over now. Marlene was left with a house full overflowing with baked goods, frozen dinners, and devoid of the usual noises associated with the McKinnon children (explosions, arguing, threats in six or seven different languages (Gaelic being the preferred choice), the sounds of Quidditch in the yard, and shouts concerning missing paraphernalia, Marlene could even recall one memorable occasion when Max had been complaining about losing his broom, which prompted Merric to suggest he find it via a summoning charm, forcing Max to ruefully admit that he had also misplaced his wand.
She knew that her extended family and friends meant well with the casseroles and muffins they had sent, but really, they had more than enough food, considering that both Marlene and her grandma believed in cooking when they were upset. They were also a poor substitute for her brothers. She missed them.
The war had cost them all so much in so short a time. And it wasn't just her family, Lily and James were cooped up in Godric's Hollow, Remus and Dorcas and the rest of the Order faced constant threats, Sirius was losing his brother, and whatever he said to the contrary, Marlene knew that it hurt him.
She sometimes thought it would be worth the consequences just to march up to Voldemort and punch him in the face.
...She tries not to tell other people that, because the last time she mentioned it to Dorcas, her best friend had asked her if she had been indulging in too much Firewhiskey and suggested she might like to reside in a nice, padded room.
Marlene was currently on a mission. She had a very important conversation to have with her boyfriend which she had been putting aside, waiting for the funerals to be over.
She found him outside, he had a piece of parchment clenched in one hand and was staring out at the Atlantic an inscrutable expression on his face. "Hi." She said softly sitting down next to him. "What's wrong?" She asked indicating the letter.
"What? Nothing." Sirius replied, crumpling the parchment up further so that it disappeared into a small ball.
"Really, Sirius, do you expect me to believe that?" Marlene demanded.
"Well, no, but I'd hoped you would." He replied ruefully.
Marlene stared at him taking in the lines of worry on his face. "What's wrong?" She repeated.
"I'm worried about Regulus." He admitted.
"Did he write you that letter?" She said with a nod toward the letter that sent her curls bobbing.
"No. Andromeda did." Sirius answered. "She said that Regulus stopped by to see her the other day, she said he seemed worried, harassed. She said he was looking for me and wondering if she had seen me lately. He mentioned you. He thinks your dead."
"I think you should go meet him." Marlene ventured.
"No. I'm staying with you." Sirius said stubbornly. "Besides, Regulus made his choice when he decided to join the death eaters."
"Did he?" Marlene asked. "Regulus is what circumstances made him, you know he never believed any of it, maybe he wants out. He's your brother, your little brother," Marlene stared off into space for a few moments thinking of her own brothers, thinking of Marcas who had been about Regulus' age.
Sirius opened his mouth to refuse, but she interrupted him.
"Just go talk to him, you owe it to yourself and to him, to at least talk to him, maybe you can change things." Marlene said firmly.
"Fine." Sirius acquiesced. "But, don't expect anything to change."
"Uh-huh." Marlene replied sounding thoroughly unconvinced.
"Suppose you tell me whatever it that you've been keeping from me for the past few days?" Sirius said smirking at her look of disbelief. "Really, Mars, we've been friends since we were like six, and you didn't think I would notice?"
"When you put it like that, it does sound rather stupid." Marlene admitted sheepishly.
"Well?" Sirius demanded, because he could be just as stubborn as she was if not more so.
"I got some news a few days ago." Marlene informed him.
"And?" Sirius prompted instantly, he had never been very patient.
"I'm pregnant." Marlene said bluntly.
Sirius blinked at her. Once. Twice. Three times. "Pregnant? As in the-nine-months-from-now-we'll-have-a-baby-pregnant?" Sirius clarified.
"Actually eight months, I'm a month along already." Marlene replied. "Also, I wasn't aware there was another type of pregnant." She added as an afterthought.
Sirius waved this comment away. "Wait here!" He ordered imperiously in true Black fashion, before running back into the house.
Marlene was left shaking her head her clearly touched in the head boyfriend. He returned ten minutes later, out of breath, having sprinted through the Cassidy Manor, and clutching a small object in one hand.
"I had this all planned out, you know." Sirius complained. "It was going to be the most romantic gesture ever." He continued to lament to his highly puzzled girlfriend. He seized her left hand with his free hand and pulled her to her feet, and knelt down in front of her retaining her hand.
"Marlene Mackenzie McKinnon, An bpósfaidh tú mé?" He enunciated carefully (1).
"Where did you learn to speak Gaelic?" She asked.
"Merric taught me how to say it a few months ago..." Sirius replied softly.
She should have figured it was Merric, one of her more patient brothers, and the one least likely to laugh at any failed attempts. She missed him. She missed them all. She pushed that aside for the moment though. "So, you're not just asking me because I'm pregnant?" She clarified.
"Of course not." Sirius replied hotly jumping to his feet. "I've been planning this for months! I've wanted to spend forever with you since the day we met, you were the funniest, nicest person I ever met, and the first person to ever be my friend. I love you, and I want to marry you, baby or no baby."
"That, Sirius Black, is far more romantic than any gesture you could have come up with." Marlene said seizing his face and pulling it down to her diminutive height.
"Is that a yes?" Sirius asked cheekily when they broke apart.
"Of course it's a yes, idiot." Marlene replied incredulosly.
"In that case, I have something for you." Sirius said ignoring the insult and opening the lid on a small jewlery case, nestled on a plush cushion lay a white gold ring with a large black pearl, accented by diamonds. "Her name is Sophia." Sirius informed his now fiancee as he plucked the ring up from its container. "Sophia has been a part of the Black family for centuries. Sirius Black I, found the pearl back in 1851, he was six at the time actually. He thought it was cool looking so he kept it, of course he died just two years later, and eventually his brother Phineas Nigellus came across it, he kept hold of it in remembrance of the older brother he barely remembered, one of the few if not only sentimental gestures of his life. Anyway, Phineas Nigellus bequeathed it to his daughter Belvina on the occasion of her marriage to one Herbert Burke. Phineas Nigellus and Belvina never quite saw eye to eye, as it were, and she hadn't wanted to marry Burke, but out of family loyalty perhaps or maybe because she had seen her elder brother Phineas disowned, Belvina married him anyway."
"What happened next?" Marlene asked.
"Well, she had the pearl set into a ring, and she enchanted it so it would go to the male Black descendent who had found true love." He paused to beam fondly at Marlene. "After Belvina's death the enchantment went into effect, and the ring was passed down to Regulus Black I, who was apparently in love with a half-blood witch, he never proposed though, never married anyone caught between his family's wishes and the woman he loved. After his death it disappeared, until it reappeared in my Gringotts vault, four years ago when we started dating." He concluded. "Hand, please." He requested. She dutifully held out her left hand to him allowing him to slide the ring on to her ring finger; it shrunk down to fit her finger.
"It's beautiful."
A/N Review! Update on Wednesday.
(1) I'm assuming most of you know what he asked, but just in case 'Will you marry me?' is the translation.
If you'd like to see Marlene's ring it can be found here: http : / / www . american pearl . com / ro63005172262 . html
Just remove the spaces.