NOTE: This story is primarily focused on SiriusOC and is only written for fun.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter and the world JK Rowling created. I only own the characters you do not recognize from Harry Potter.
Hey guys! This is getting up a little later in the month than I'd hoped. I'd wanted to finish up the last scene of this chapter before NaNo started, but then I didn't. I finally felt good enough in my novel's progress to start working on this story again earlier in the week and I finished up this chapter last night. I do have some good news though. First off, I only have about 17,000 words left to write. I'm not sure if it'll take the rest of the month or if I'll finish early, but I'd bet on the first one before the second. More good news is I finally know my school schedule for fall semester. While it is still going to be really busy, and most of my free time will be dedicated to studying, there are a couple of days that are not as full as I thought they would be (though one is only temporary until I start clinicals). So while updates will probably slow down, I'll have more time to write than I thought.
I'm not sure when my next update will be. I don't know if I'm going to work on this story again before completing NaNo or if I'm just going to focus on finishing my novel as soon as I can. But I'll try to have an update up sometime in August (before I start school on the 19th), so look out for that. If you want to check out my NaNo progress at any time to see when I'm finishing, the links are up on my profile. The best ones to check are the Camp NaNo link and the link to my writing blog. I also have an all day orientation on Monday which should give me a better idea about how much writing time I'm actually going to have once the semester gets underway.
Sorry for these long author notes. I'm just trying to keep you guys updated on what's going on. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Happenstance
Chapter Six
'Soon enough' turned out to be nearly two months later.
It was the seventh of August. Samantha was watching Aiden again. Nichole had been more exhausted in the past few weeks as her due date drew closer, and if Samantha was not at work, she was watching her nephew, though on most nights he returned home. He'd had several more nightmares and his parents wanted him close. Luckily he hadn't suffered any ill-effects yet and didn't seem to lose sleep unless he had another nightmare.
It was a quiet afternoon. Aiden was lying on the floor of the sitting room as he drew on the several sheets of parchment Samantha had provided for him. Samantha and Sirius-in his Animagus form-were seated on the couch. His head was resting in her lap and her fingers absentmindedly ran through his thick fur as she read a book. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day, but Aiden had spent all morning outside and was worn out.
It was in this peaceful moment that a silver lion suddenly burst into the room, causing them all to jump. Aiden leapt to his feet, rushing to Samantha, his eyes wide. She didn't think he'd ever seen a patronus before. She wrapped her arms around him, giving him a reassuring squeeze and ignoring the worry clenching around her heart.
"It's alright," she told him with a smile. "It won't hurt you."
Aiden didn't seem to believe her, and his eyes widened even more when his father's voice came from the patronus.
"Nichole's gone into labor. We're at St. Mungo's. Bring Aiden and get over here. You're supposed to deliver the baby, remember?" Samantha rolled her eyes. How could she possibly forget something like that? Adrien then told her to hurry; according to the healer who had looked at Nichole when they arrived, the baby wouldn't wait much longer. Something else was muttered, though incoherently, before the patronus disappeared, and Samantha had flashbacks of the panic Adrien had been in when Aiden was born.
"Run and put your shoes on," Samantha told Aiden, standing and gathering up the parchment as she listened to Aiden run to the back door where his shoes had been. She began to pick up the other things Aiden had brought for entertainment, stuffing them in the bag he had packed them in. Another pair of hands joined her and she glanced up with a frustrated noise.
"What are you doing?" she hissed.
"Helping," Sirius replied simply with a grin. "He's still struggling with his shoes at the back door. I can hear him."
"Adrien will murder you if he sees you."
He flashed her another grin before she was suddenly staring at a large black dog as she heard Aiden's footsteps running back towards them. With a scowl, she shoved Sirius away from her and stood, everything packed back in the bag.
"Let's go," she said to Aiden as she rose to her feet, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and leading him to the front door. They would apparate to the hospital.
Her arm was back around his shoulders as she ushered him as quickly as his legs would carry him through the halls of St. Mungo's. The urgency made him nervous.
"Is there something wrong with mum?" he asked almost fearfully, looking up at her, stumbling as he took his eyes off of where they were walking.
Her arm tightened to keep him on his feet. "She's fine," she assured him, looking down. "She's about to give you a baby brother or sister."
Aiden's eyes widened at the thought. When they finally reached the right room, Samantha opened the door and had to shake her head at her brother. Adrien stood by Nichole's bed, her hand in his, but his face was pale and looked as if his wife was about to face death. Nichole was ignoring him as she spoke to Ciara, who looked as if she had just brought the woman a potion for the pain. Nichole's face suddenly tensed with pain and she gripped Adrien's hand tighter, causing him to wince.
Samantha stepped further into the room, and Ciara's gaze moved to her.
"Hi, Sam," Ciara said brightly.
"Hey, Ciara," she replied, giving her a smile. "Listen, can you do me a really big favor?"
Ciara's eyes moved to Aiden, who was clutching Samantha's robes tightly and looking at his mother almost fearfully. Adrien was too busy trying to sooth Nichole to take much notice.
"You need me to watch this little guy?" she guessed, giving Aiden a friendly smile when he turned to look at her, realizing he was being talked about.
"It would really help me out," Samantha told her. "There's no one here to watch him and I'm afraid his mother is frightening him a bit right now."
"Of course," Ciara agreed. "I don't mind. My nephew, Rory, actually came to work with me today. I'm watching him while his parents are on a long weekend trip and I couldn't get the day off. Neil's entertaining him for me right now. I'm sure he'd love to meet Aiden."
Samantha smiled. "I think he'd like that. How old is he?"
"He just turned six."
"Same age as Aiden," she said, looking down at the boy. "Aiden, I want you to go with Miss Ciara, alright? She'll take care of you. I'll come get you as soon as I'm done taking care of your mum, alright?"
Aiden nodded, glancing shyly at Ciara. He gave her a small smile when she held her hand out to him and allowed her to lead him out of the room. As soon as they were gone, Samantha's attention turned to Nichole.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, moving to her side.
Nichole grimaced before glancing at her, managing to give her a tight smile.
"A little better now that the potion is settling in. I just want it over with. It always seems to take so long."
"I'll be over soon," Samantha assured her. "And it will all be worth it."
"How come you got a nice answer?" Adrien spoke up indignantly. "All she did when I asked was snap at me."
"Shut it," Nichole growled at him.
Adrien shot Samantha a 'see what I mean?' look and she rolled her eyes.
"Your job is to be supportive and stay out of my way. That means not upsetting your wife, so do as she asks or I'll have to throw you out."
This earned her an offended look, but her brother remained quiet as she checked Nichole over. It was only a few minutes before she locked eyes with Nichole.
"It's time," she said.
If it was possible, Adrien's face paled even more. Nichole closed her eyes for a brief moment to prepare herself. A nurse slipped into the room to assist with the delivery.
"Ready?" Samantha asked. Adrien shook his head, but Nichole gave a small nod. Samantha ignored her brother and placed a hand on Nichole's knee. "Push."
The pain made it feel like an eternity to Nichole, but it was not long at all until the sound of crying filled the room. Nichole relaxed against the pillows, smiling as Adrien whispered into her ear, running his hand over her head. Samantha wrapped the baby-the baby girl-in a blanket before handing her off to the nurse, who would make sure she was healthy and clean her up.
"It's a girl," she announced with a broad grin.
Nichole beamed at the news and Adrien leaned down to give her a kiss. They had been hoping for a little girl.
"Do you know what you're going to name her?" she asked.
They both nodded and Adrien replied, "Anna Elizabeth Dawson."
Anna Dawson was a beautiful addition to the family. She had her father's bright blue eyes, but everything else was Nichole. Adrien knew she would grow up as beautiful as his wife, but he hoped she didn't grow up too fast. Aiden was fascinated by his little sister when Samantha brought him in to meet her after she'd been cleared as perfectly healthy and in her mother's arms. His parents allowed him to hold her, under the close supervision of Adrien. He'd stared at her as if he didn't know what to think of her. But he had a huge smile on his face.
Remus was instantly fond of Anna, as was Sirius. He wasn't able to hold her, but she was the first newborn he had been around since Harry and it brought back happy memories. He enjoyed watching Samantha interact with her, just as he'd enjoyed watching her interact with Harry. And just like last time, he found himself picturing her with a child of her own. His child. But those thoughts only served to remind him that such a thing was impossible while he was on the run. And if he wasn't found innocent, he couldn't stay with her forever. As much as it would hurt the both of them, he couldn't do that to her. But surely something had to come from Adrien's investigation at some point. It had to.
When Samantha returned home from work on the first of September, it was to a quiet house, which was odd. Normally Sirius was banging around in the kitchen as he tried to finish any last minute cooking. But everything was still and there wasn't even a smell to indicate that he'd finished early.
"Sirius?"
There was no answer. After checking the sitting room and kitchen-both empty-she headed upstairs. There was no sign of him in the library or in her bedroom. Now frowning deeply, she moved to the his room, which he very rarely used these days. The door was closed, which didn't indicate anything. They kept it closed usually to make it appear that it wasn't being used at all, especially now that he rarely actually slept in there. She still hesitated before opening the door a crack. The light was off, and she nearly took that as an indicator that he wasn't in there, and then she caught sight of his form sitting on the edge of the bed, his hunched back facing her.
"Sirius?" she called softly, stepping into the room.
He made no indication that he heard her as she slowly approached. She sat beside him on the bed, placing her hand on his back.
"Sirius?"
He turned to look at her and his grey eyes were empty. It reminded her of the weeks after his brother had died.
"Do you know what today is?" he whispered.
Her brow furrowed. "September first…But Harry's gone back to Hogwarts today," she said with a small smile. "That's a good thing."
He let out a bitter laugh. "It means we only have a school year until he goes back to those people."
"Maybe they'll find something before then-"
"It's been a year, Sam," he said, pushing himself from the bed. "A year since your brother stopped looking for me and started looking for Peter. And I don't even know what I expected. Finding a rat? One single rat? There's no possible way. And yet I thought it would all work out. I thought I would stay here forever."
She shook her head. "You're not…you're not leaving."
He turned to face her. "I can't hide here forever. I've already been here too long. If they don't find Peter soon…" Running his hands through his hair, he exhaled deeply. "I tried to push you away for a reason. I didn't…I didn't want us to get into anything because we had no idea what was going to happen. And I didn't want you to get hurt."
She stood abruptly and stepped up to him, taking his hands in hers.
"You're not going to leave me," she said, her voice threatening to break. "I don't care what happens. We will figure it out. But you are not going to leave me alone. Not again. I…" she paused and took a deep breath before she met his gaze, her eyes searching his. "I love you, Sirius. I'm not sure I ever stopped, not really. So please. I want you to promise me that whatever happens, we go through it together. Please."
"Sam." He gently pulled his hands out of her grasp, bringing them up to her face, cupping it gently. Stepping closer, he titled his head down and brought his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. Her hands moved to his waist as his slid behind her neck, his fingers tangling in her long hair. When they broke apart, they were both breathless. "I love you." He gave her a small smile. "And I won't leave you."
"Promise?"
He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I promise."
She nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer. "Alright."
He sighed, sliding his hands down to her hips. "Are you hungry?" he asked.
Instead of waiting for an answer, his lips found hers once again. She laughed, but kissed him back, fisting her hands in his robes at his waist.
"Mmm," she said when their kiss ended. "This seems like a nice way to spend the evening."
Standing up on her toes, she gave him another kiss. He returned it gladly, until he heard her stomach growl.
Pulling away with a laugh, he said, "You little liar."
She shot him an indignant look. "I never gave you an answer to that question, actually. So I did no such thing."
He sighed and pulled away from her. "Come on," he said, finding her hand. He tugged her out of the bedroom and down the hall. "Let's find you something to eat."
"Us," she corrected.
He looked at her over his shoulder and smiled. "Us," he repeated. "Let's find us something to eat."
There wasn't much to choose from, it turned out. Not that they could fix in a short amount of time at least. So Sirius pulled out leftover ham from dinner a few nights ago and made them sandwiches.
"Don't tell Remus," he said once they were settled at the table with their food. "He seems to think sandwiches aren't a viable source for a meal."
She smiled. "Only when he found that was all I ate for years. I'd come home every now and then to a feast that would have enough leftovers for a week."
"Maybe I'll start doing that," Sirius said around a mouthful of food.
She shrugged. "I don't care what you do. But what are you going to do for that hour or two from now on?"
He stared at her silently for a moment, taking the time to swallow. "Maybe I won't do that then," he said. "Your house is boring. There's nothing to do."
She shot him an offended look. "My house is not boring."
He grinned. "Well, it's not so boring when you're here."
"That's good to know," she said dryly.
He took another bite. "I got a letter from Harry this morning. He must've sent it last night."
She studied him for a long moment before she spoke. "Is that what had you so upset earlier?"
Sirius sighed heavily. "He wanted to know when he'd be able to come live with me. When I saw him at Hogwarts, before we parted ways, I told him one day soon we would be a family. I don't think either of us thought just how long it would be."
"He understands," she said gently. "He understands why he can't be with you right now."
"I guess," he said, running a hand through his hair. "Maybe we ought to tell him about you."
Her gaze moved back to him sharply. "What?"
Sirius shrugged. "Why not? He's got to find out sometime."
"If he finds out, he'll wonder why he never lived with me. Or why he can't come live with me now."
"Not if we explain. I mean, I know we can't tell him the whole reason since Dumbledore doesn't think he's ready to know-"
"He's not."
Sirius inclined his head in agreement. "But we can tell him that Dumbledore did what he thought was best."
"He won't understand, Sirius,"
"How do you know?"
"How would you react if it was you? If you were stuck with people like Harry's aunt and uncle and you found out that there was someone all those years who was supposed to have been your guardian. Would you listen to any explanations or would you automatically hate them?"
Sirius opened his mouth to answer, but then he paused and his mouth closed. She nodded and gave him a tight smile before standing and striding out of the kitchen. He sighed and stood to take their plates to the sink. She was right. Harry would be upset if he found out, but he had to find out sometime. But maybe it was something best found out in person and not told through a letter. But eventually, he would have to know the truth.
Sirius grew more and more antsy as the weeks passed. Being cooped up in the house was hard enough, but with his impatience growing, it was becoming nearly unbearable. He tended to pace the house more often, and once, Samantha came home from work to find him sitting in the garden in the backyard. He had only done that once, though, because he didn't care to hear her shout at him again. And his shoulder was bruised for days.
He started working out, saying that he wanted to be in shape when he was finally able to rejoin the Aurors. He'd gained his weight back from having regular meals again, but his muscles were long gone from disuse. Many times she walked into the sitting room to find the furniture moved to one side of the room to give him room to do sit-ups, push-ups, and whatever else he could come up with. Since he couldn't go outside, he took to running up and down the main staircase, something Samantha had banned him from doing when she was home.
Although he worked hard to keep himself active and distracted, there was always a nervous energy left over at the end of the day that she hated. There wasn't anything she could really do to help aside from being there to talk. She desperately hoped that something would turn up soon.
"He's not happy that we left him behind."
"What does he expect us to do? Since he's housebound, we have to be as well?"
"He probably wouldn't argue against that logic."
It was a rainy Sunday in mid-October and Remus and Samantha found themselves at a market in London. Samantha's mother had stumbled across the market once while in London and had claimed the food to be the freshest she had ever seen. She'd taken to buying food from there frequently. It was a muggle market, but Samantha had gone with her mother enough to be well-versed in how to handle muggle currency.
"It's hard to believe it's been over a year, isn't it?" Remus asked as he studied a squash.
Samantha shook her head. "If you had told me I would have been where I am now a year ago, I wouldn't have believed you."
"You would have done a right sight more than just not believing me," he told her with a smile.
She rolled her eyes. "He was insufferable back then."
"He can still be insufferable when he wants to," he pointed out, placing the squash back on the wooden display and slowly moving on to the next, a large stack of tomatoes. "Like when you came home to find him outside a few weeks ago. He still complains about you hitting his shoulder so many times whenever he can. Like last night."
She sighed deeply. "He hasn't changed really."
"You know, I had my suspicions. That the two of you would fall back together sooner or later. You can't easily forget the kind of relationship the two of you had."
"So I've been told," she said, choosing a few tomatoes and placing them in the basket she had hooked on her arm.
"But the two of you wouldn't be who you are if it hadn't taken you nearly a year to stop dancing around each other. He never stopped loving you, you know."
"I know. Sometimes I wonder if I stopped loving him. I had the opportunity to move on, but even then…"
Silence fell between them. Samantha moved to the fruit and Remus watched as she chose various kinds to place in her basket.
"I thought you hated me at first," Remus eventually said softly. She turned to look at him in surprise. "After you found out he was at my home…I would have told you eventually, when I knew how. I wasn't trying to hide it from you. And then he ended up at your house trying to save me, and had to stay. And the two of you argued so much…I thought you blamed me."
She shook her head, looping her arm through his and giving him a smile. "I could never hate you, Remus. You're the sweetest werewolf I know."
He gave her a sideways look. "I'm the only werewolf you know."
"You most certainly are not. Or have you forgotten where I work?"
"Patients don't count."
"Hm." She looked up at him. "Have you thought about finding yourself a girlfriend?"
"What?" he yelped, coming to a stop, jerking her to a stop as well as a result.
She shrugged. "Why not? You had a perfectly fine girlfriend back at Hogwarts-"
"That was years ago."
"-and while I know you never had the courage to tell her about you, I know there's someone out there. Perhaps someone at work. Nichole may know of someone. She hasn't been to work in a while, but surely she's kept contact with some people."
"Sam," Remus sighed. "Don't trouble yourself. No one wants to be with someone like me."
Her eyes narrowed. "No You only think no one wants to be with someone like you. I know that somewhere out there is a beautiful woman who will see nothing but the man in front of her."
He smiled. "I already know a beautiful woman who sees nothing but the man in front of her."
She frowned deeply at him and pulled her arm from his, continuing on her way through the market.
"Flattery will not help you to change the subject, Lupin."
"Why does this subject even need to be discussed?" he asked, hurrying to follow after her.
She glanced at him over her shoulder. "I just hate to see you so lonely."
"I'm not lonely," he argued. "I've got you and Sirius."
She smiled. "Sounds like sorry company to me."
Sighing heavily, he reached out to catch her arm, causing her to halt and turn towards him, a questioning look upon her face. "Promise you'll stop worrying yourself over me. I'm doing just fine."
She stared at him for a long moment before she said, "Fine," pulling herself from his grip and heading to a vendor selling sweets, thinking Sirius might appreciate a few.
"Thank you," he murmured as she asked for a few honey cakes.
"I don't like it," she replied, handing over the required amount of money.
He laughed as they continued on their way. "I didn't think you would. But you'll survive."
"If you say so."
Grinning, he grabbed her arm again and pulled her towards a vendor selling fish. "I'm thinking of making fish for dinner," he said, looking over the selection. "And we ought to hurry or Sirius will accuse us of enjoying our freedom while he's locked up in the house."
She sighed. "He's going to do it no matter how long we take," she pointed out, paying for the fish Remus picked out. "Might as well take our time."
"And we do have honey cakes. Maybe that'll please him enough to shut him up."
"Doubtful," she replied. "I think the only thing that'll shut him up at this point is finding Peter."
Remus looked at her. "Then we'll just have to find Peter."
Later, after they'd returned home, Remus cleaned the fish for dinner as he listened fondly to Sirius and Samantha argue about how long they'd been gone at the market. Not even the honey cakes had made him feel better. As Samantha had pointed out, only finding Peter would help at this point. He'd been locked up so long, he was starting to go a bit mad. But they were the only family Remus would ever need, and he stubbornly shoved aside the small pang that told him that even he didn't believe that.
Samantha shifted on the bed. She heard muttering coming from behind her and turned over to find Sirius tossing and turning in the throes of a nightmare. Frowning, she propped herself up on her elbow, her other hand moving to his shoulder.
"Sirius," she murmured, shaking his shoulder gently. "Sirius, love."
He muttered something under his breath and then fell quiet. She sighed, brushing her fingers through his hair. He didn't suffer from nightmares every night, but at least once a week, she was woken up by his tossing and turning. She was always able to calm him down without waking him with soft words and gentle touches. She wasn't sure if he even realized it the next morning.
She pressed a kiss to his shoulder before lying back against the pillows. She was nearly back to sleep when he began to thrash violently. Before she could react, his hand slammed into her face, sending pain shooting through her eye. She gasped and pulled away, pushing herself up and scrambling back away from his arms.
"Sirius," she said firmly, shaking his leg.
He suddenly shot up in bed, his eyes wide, and she flinched backwards. His gaze moved to her as he took gasping breaths.
"Sam?"
"You were having a nightmare," she murmured. He didn't reply and she noticed the sheen of sweat across his chest, how tense his muscles were. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Shaking his head, he slowly lowered himself back down to the bed. "No, I…I'm fine." She didn't believe him, but he always refused to talk to her about his nightmares, so she didn't pry. Instead, she allowed him to take her hand and pull her back to him. She slid across the bed and lay down against the pillows. Sirius pulled the covers over both of them and then he rolled towards her, resting his head on her shoulder. She sighed as she shifted, wrapping her arms around his waist. She felt his lips against her neck before she drifted back off.
When she woke up again, the room was full of sunlight. She groaned and shifted. They hadn't moved at all since falling back asleep and her body was stiff. She did not open her eyes, but she could tell by the way he was breathing that Sirius was awake.
"Good morning," Sirius murmured against her neck.
She smiled. "Good morning," she echoed, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair.
Against her neck, she felt his lips tilt up into a smile. And then his lips were gone as he pulled away. A moment later, she felt him go stiff as he inhaled sharply. She finally opened her eyes to find him staring at her with a horrified expression on his face.
"What is it?" she asked, brow furrowing.
He didn't answer, reaching towards her with a shaky hand. Gently, his fingers brushed her skin around her right eye, and only then did she remember that he'd hit her during the night.
"Did I do this?" he asked quietly, voice shaking.
"It was an accident," she said, reaching up to take his hand.
He pulled away and she closed her eyes. She could feel the bed shifting as he moved away from her. When the movement stopped, she opened her eyes to find him seated at the edge of the bed, his back to her and his head in his hands.
"Sirius…"
She moved across the bed towards him. Slowly, after a brief hesitation, she reached towards him. As soon as her fingers brushed his shoulder, he flinched away, shoving away from the bed and walking several paces away.
"I don't even remember what I was dreaming about," he said bitterly, partly turning towards her, but his gaze avoided her completely.
"It was an accident," she said again gently. He did not answer, and she saw his jaw tighten and his hands clench into fists. "Do you want me to fix it? Will that make it easier?"
He was silent for a long moment, and she thought he still wasn't going to answer, when he said, "Can you do that?"
She smiled. "Of course I can. We don't usually bother to heal bruises because they're so minor, but we're more than capable to. Besides," her voice softened, "This isn't exactly something I want to try to explain to Remus or my brother."
He stiffened and she watched him for a moment before sliding back to her side of the bed. She grabbed her wand off of the bedside table and cast him another look before heading into the bathroom. She saw what had Sirius upset right away. There was a dark bruise at the corner of her right eye that spread down to her cheekbone. She sighed before lifting her wand and touching it to the bruise. It only took a few short minutes before it looked as if nothing had been there at all.
When she came out of the bathroom, Sirius had moved back to the bed. He was lying on his stomach, his face buried in the pillow. She slid onto the bed beside him and lightly touched his back. He flinched, but did not pull away, and she took that as a good sign. She kept her hand there because he let her and took a deep breath.
"It wasn't your fault," she told him softly.
"Was it the first time?" he muttered.
She frowned. "What?"
"Was it the first time?" he asked. "Was it the first time I've hit you? I know I have them often, but has this happened before? You could heal it and I'd never know…"
"No," she replied. "No, you've never hit me before, Sirius. And I know you won't do it again."
"You don't know that! It could just as easily happen again!"
"It doesn't matter. You didn't do it on purpose." She sighed and ran her hand down his back. He shivered at her touch. "You know me well enough to know that if I were worried or upset about it, I would say."
Finally, he rolled over to face her. For a long moment, he was silent as he stared at her. Slowly, his hand rose up to her face, tracing her skin where the bruise had been.
"I never meant to hurt you," he whispered.
Her eyes closed. Those six words had so many different meanings. "I know."
And then she felt his lips on hers. The kiss was slow and gentle, and she knew his kisses well enough that he was still scared of somehow hurting her. And so when she kissed him back, it was more firm and demanding, and he only hesitated a moment before he changed his kiss to match hers.
"I love you so much," he murmured against her lips. "I never want to see you hurt again. Especially not by my hand."
"Then don't go," she breathed. "I know you promised you wouldn't, but I can't help but feel that something's going to happen and you're going to leave me anyway."
"No," he said before kissing her again, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Would you ever consider marrying me? Consider it again, at least."
She smiled. "Why? Are you asking me?"
He'd asked her that same question once, a long time ago. She'd given the same reply. But back then, his answer was a laugh. Now, when he pulled back and looked at her, his face was completely serious.
"It depends upon your answer," he said, meeting her gaze evenly.
She stared at him for a long moment before she nodded. "Yes," she whispered. "Yes, I would."
He exhaled and a tension in his shoulders released, and she realized that he had expected her to turn him down. She watched curiously as he released her waist and slid off of the bed before making his way around it to her side. She turned around as he went to the drawer of her bedside table and watched, astounded, as he pulled out a small wooden box.
"How did you-?" she began to ask as he opened it and picked through it. But her voice cut off when she saw what he pulled out.
Placing the box down on the bedside table, he turned to face her, lowering himself to his knees and placing his elbows on the edge of the bed, fiddling with the ring he held between his fingers.
"If I had my way, I'd buy you a new ring, a better ring, because you deserve it after having to wait all these years. But since I'm not able, I hope you don't mind having to wear your old ring instead. And I know we can't get married yet. Not until I'm proven innocent. So maybe think of it as more of a promise. A promise that the moment I'm no longer a criminal, I am going to marry you, Samantha Dawson. And then we'll be a family and you'll be stuck with me forever."
Her smile grew and she let out a soft laugh. "It sounds perfect."
"So is that a yes?"
She rolled her eyes. "What do you think, idiot?"
Grinning, he took her left hand in his and slid the ring on her finger. It still fit perfectly. He pushed himself up to reach her lips and gave her a kiss that left her breathless. His hand found hers, his fingers brushing over the ring.
"I didn't realize how much I missed seeing you wear this."
She shook her head. "Well, don't get used to it." At his confused look, she said, "I can't actually wear it, you realize."
He frowned deeply. "Why not?"
She sighed. "And what am I going to say when they ask me who it is? Especially since people at work certainly think I'm some crazy woman who works too much and who lives alone in this huge house with only a cat and now a dog."
"I hate it when you're right," he muttered.
A thoughtful look crossed her face. "Just a moment."
Still frowning, he watched as she stood from the bed and headed over to her dresser. Kneeling down, she pulled open one of the lower drawers and began to rummage through it. It didn't take long before she sat back and closed the drawer. He saw her slip the ring off of her finger and fiddle with it for a moment before standing and moving back to the bed. Silently, she held up what she had been digging for: a necklace chain, which she had slid her ring on.
His face split into a grin. "Brilliant. I suppose I can live with that."
"Oh, can you?"
He took the chain from her hands and put it over her head, brushing her hair away from her neck before fastening the clasp. The ring hung low enough so that she could easily hide it in her robes when she needed to.
"Beautiful," he murmured before grabbing her hand and pulling her towards him for a kiss.
She laughed against his lips as he lowered her to the pillows, her arms wrapping around his neck. His hands slid down to her waist as he rolled onto his side, pulling her against him.
"I love you," he said before pressing a kiss to her collarbone. "And soon, you'll be Mrs. Black."
She wrinkled her nose. "Mrs. Black was your mother."
"May she rest in peace," he said, and she could swear he was smiling against her skin. "That's still what they're going to call you. Mrs. Black. Healer Black." Another kiss. "I like the sound of it."
"I might can get used to it."
"You will," he said, sounding very sure of himself. He trailed kisses up her neck and across her jaw, until he found her lips. It was nearly lunch time before they finally made themselves get out of bed.
"You are completely jumping into this."
"Adrien-"
"It hasn't even been a year since all of those months the two of you avoided each other!"
"So? You're the one who tried to talk me into giving him a chance. Did you not think we'd eventually end up where we left off?"
Adrien sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's not that I don't like it-"
"You certainly had a lot to say the last time we got engaged as well."
He winced, but otherwise ignored the quip. "It's more the timing. I just don't think it's a good idea. I don't want to see you hurt again. And I certainly don't think it's a good idea for you to wear a ring, even around your neck."
Samantha crossed her arms over her chest. "I can hide it."
His eyebrow rose. "So did you mean to leave it out as a way of telling me you've gotten engaged?"
Her face dropped into a scowl. "Alright. I forgot once-"
"And what if it were one of my auror's coming to inspect?"
"I'm fairly certain they wouldn't think anything of it."
Adrien snorted. "Have you met Nathan? He'd jump on any little thing in an attempt to make me lose my job."
She rolled her eyes. "So this is about you being worried about yourself."
"No," he said, voice frustrated. "This is about you. I'm worried about you. What if he gets caught? Or is never found innocent? Do you think he's going to just stay hiding here forever?"
"He's promised that he's not going to leave."
"And didn't he essentially promise that the last time he asked you to marry him?" She took a step backwards as if she had been slapped and he sighed. "I know he didn't do it on purpose last time. But things are too unstable now to be certain he won't ever be forced to leave. And I'm worried about what will happen to you if that happens."
"Look," she sighed and pushed her hair behind her ear. "The two of us have already talked about it. A lot. I know you're concerned, but the circumstances are very different from last time. And we know we can't just jump into anything. We don't plan on doing anything until he's found innocent. And I'd say we're rather good at hiding it because we've already been engaged for over a month. So can we perhaps not have this sort of conversation on Christmas?"
Adrien, Nichole, Anna, and Aiden had come over for Christmas dinner, which Samantha had spent all day cooking for with Remus and Sirius. She'd lost track of time and had only been coming downstairs from changing when Adrien and his family had arrived. She hadn't even realized she'd forgotten to tuck the ring inside her robes until she saw the look Adrien was giving her. Dinner wasn't quite ready yet, so her brother had been fairly quick to pull her into one of the downstairs guest rooms to have a chat.
Now, Adrien sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Alright. I'm sorry. I just…I was surprised."
She gave him a small smile. "Well, I didn't exactly intend for you to find out. Not like that."
"Yes," he said with a nod. "Very well done keeping that secret."
"Shut up," she muttered, shouldering past him to the door.
They made their way into the kitchen to find that dinner had just finished cooking. No one said anything about their absence, though Sirius, lying on the floor in his Animagus form, was watching her. She shrugged, before moving to Nichole, who was attempting to hold Anna and move a large bowl of boiled potatoes to the dining room table. Taking the bowl, Samantha waved her to sit down at the table, which she did after only a small amount of protests. Between Samantha, Remus, Adrien, and Aiden, who insisted upon helping excitedly, they moved their feast to the table in no time.
Remus and Sirius had outdone themselves. Roasted turkey, boiled potatoes, gravy, homemade bread, and a mix of vegetables. As she settled at the table, she felt Sirius come lay at her feet and felt a pang of guilt. He'd spend the entire day cooking the food and couldn't even eat any. Not yet. He'd told her it was alright many times throughout the day. He'd eat as soon as Nichole and Adrien left, which would not be too late since they had Anna.
As soon as they finished eating-with plenty of leftovers to spare-Aiden insisted upon having dessert. The adults weren't quite ready for dessert, but they pulled it out anyway: Christmas pudding for them and treacle tart that Remus had made especially for Aiden, who wasn't a fan of the pudding. While Aiden had a large portion of the treacle tart, the others only had a small bit of the pudding. There had been so much food, it would be hours before they would want to eat again.
After dessert, they moved into the sitting room to exchange gifts. Samantha took Anna from Nichole to give her a break as they settled down around the large Christmas tree. Like the year before, Sirius had pulled out every Christmas decoration they had and decorated the house. It was more extravagant than she liked, but she didn't have the heart to tell him. Samantha settled on the floor, her back against the couch, and arranged Anna in her lap. Sirius appeared, curling up beside her.
Most of the presents piled under the tree were for Aiden and Anna, and Aiden made it quick work to tear through all of them, insisting his sister needed her older brother to help. Aiden's presents consisted of toys and books and Anna, who was growing constantly, received new clothes.
By the time Samantha handed Anna back to her mother, she was sound asleep. Aiden looked worn out as well. Between getting up extra early excited about presents, lunch at Nichole's father's, and dinner plus more presents, it had been a long day. They went home not long after, Adrien promising to stop by early afternoon so he and Samantha could go together to their family's graves. As soon as they were gone, Sirius was in the kitchen piling a plate high with food. By the time he returned to the sitting room, Samantha had moved from the floor to the sofa. Remus had not moved out of the armchair he'd collapsed in after dinner. Sirius settled himself beside Samantha with a sigh. He held the plate out to her.
"Want some?"
"No thank you," she replied with a glare, causing him to grin in return.
He shrugged, and began shoving food into his mouth. Across the room, Remus snorted.
"Good to see your table manners haven't improved in the slightest."
"I'm not sitting at a table," Sirius pointed out around a mouthful of mood.
They didn't argue against that, since it was technically correct. Silence fell between them. Sirius concentrated on eating-he was starving-and Samantha closed her eyes, suddenly exhausted. It had been a long day, not helped by her brother's outburst. But they had parted on good terms, so it had to have gone well.
"So the two of you are engaged," Remus eventually drawled, breaking their silence.
Sirius choked on whatever he'd been eating. Samantha slowly opened her eyes to find Remus watching them.
"You heard?"
"The two of you were very loud," Sirius pointed out. "Did you think we couldn't hear?"
"We were going to tell you," Samantha told Remus.
"Eventually," Sirius added. "We thought it would be best to keep it between ourselves for a while. I guess Sam got bored of that."
"Shut up," she muttered. "At least I don't have to figure out how to tell my brother now."
Sirius waved his fork at her. "That is entirely true."
Remus left not long after. It was late and the heavy dinner had made him more tired. After he left, Samantha leaned into Sirius's side. He set his plate down in his lap so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders.
"How do you like the food?" she asked. He had spent most of the day cooking it with Remus after all. And he was the last to be able to try it.
"I believe I outdid myself," he declared, taking another bite of his food.
She lay her head on his shoulder, tilting it up to look at him.
"Perhaps next year you'll get to eat with us."
He sighed and his arm tightened around her shoulders. "Perhaps." But his face didn't look all too hopeful.
Sirius moved on to the pudding, taking a large spoonful and stuffing it into his mouth, making a sound of approval in the back of his throat.
"Moony makes a fantastic Christmas pudding. I've never had some quite this good. Not even at Hogwarts."
Samantha had to agree. "Remus has always excelled when it comes to making desserts."
He took another spoonful and offered it to her. She accepted, opening her mouth and allowing him to slide the spoon in. Soon enough, his plate was empty and he sighed.
"Should we tackle the dishes now or leave them until the morning?" Samantha asked.
"Depends," Sirius murmured. "On if you plan on allowing me to do it by magic or make us do it by hand."
"With that many dishes, I'm not planning on cleaning them without magic."
"Good." A pause. "We can still do them in the morning, though."
She smiled. "Shall we go upstairs then?"
"Mm. Too much movement."
He leaned back towards the other end of the couch, pulling her with him. He kicked his legs up, reaching behind him to adjust the small decorative pillow. By the time he stopped moving, they were stretched out along the couch. She was on top of them, her head still on his shoulder and her legs tangled with his. He sighed in content, moving his hand to rest on her back.
"I'm just fine right here."
"Okay," she said, and pressed a kiss to his neck.
They fell asleep not long after, and stayed there for the rest of the night. At some point early the next morning, they moved upstairs to the more comfortable bed before going back to sleep. It was a peaceful Christmas, and their first as a couple in years. More than anything, they both hoped they were together for Christmas next year, as well as many in the coming years.
End Chapter