Thanks to everyone who read, alerted and most of all to Ash-Caro-Lynn, BelieverofManyThings and "guest" (honey, calm down^^ did I give any indication that this story was over?) for reviewing.

Also, I'm earlier than usual and the next update will be late - I'll be working at a kid's summer camp for the next ten days with neither the time nor the internet access to update, so bear with me ;)

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy :)

November 7, 1980

I was still staring, in a mixture between utter shock and absolute delight and he raked a hand nervously through his hair. "That is," he said. "If you'll have me."

It seemed so surreal that he would propose that I maybe might have taken too long to respond, because his face fell and he scooted back a little. "No pressure or anything," he muttered quickly as if to backtrack.

"No! I mean - yes, I... I would love to, I'm just... surprised," I finished lamely. I was being utterly unromantic, I realized and I at once tried to smile at him. It took a bit of an effort, because my muscles did not want to cooperate properly. His eyes widened slightly as he realized I was saying yes. Perhaps this was a bit unreal for him as well.

"I don't, look, I don't have a ring yet, but I am going to get one for you - this has been a bit spontaneous and I... Merlin, do you really mean it?"

I laughed at his rambling and immediately regretted it. The pain of it shot through all my body and I sagged back against the pillows with a groan of discomfort.

"I could have chosen a better time, too," Sirius remarked with a slightly worried grin. "We're going to do that again."

"Absolutely," I whispered. "You can be better prepared and I can be less perplexed. It's going to be great."

He laughed in my place and then bent down to press a soft kiss to my lips. "I love you," he told me.

I made a great effort to smile at him again. "I love you, too."

Lily returned with the healer after that. They did the full checkup, asking me over and over again how I felt, where it hurt, if I could remember who I was (I could), but I did not understand much of it. I was too exhausted, emotionally and physically to pay them much attention.
Sirius refused to leave my side until I forcefully told him to go home and get some sleep. He had not done that ever since he had brought me to the hospital and it was showing on his face and in every of his movements. Lily finally dragged him out of the room at my request.

It was awfully quiet afterwards, but I felt that after he had taken care of me, it was my duty to make sure that he was all right as well since he did not look after himself on his own.
This was how it was going to be for as long as we lived, I realized. I had just said yes. I had agreed to marry him and now, we would forever have to care for each other. We would forever get to care about each other.
A few years back, the prospect of such eternity had been scary and everything but welcome. Right now, despite being injured and refined to a hospital bed, I felt like I could not be happier. I felt like no other person on earth could possibly so happy.

I slept restlessly that night. Part of it was the pain and another part were the memories slowly returning to me. The Death Eaters surrounding us, the street exploding around us, the threat of imminent death... it made me wake up several times, breathing heavily until I calmed enough to slip back into unconsciousness.

I awoke again in the middle of the night, but this time, I had the distinct feeling that something was wrong. My skin prickled with the sense that someone was watching me who was not supposed to do so.
The soft rustling of clothes told me that I was, in fact, right, and I panicked at once. Stupid, stubborn me, who had to send Sirius away while danger was lurking in every corner. I was obviously hanging out too much with Gryffindors, their recklessness and dumb ideas seemed to rub off on me.

A light flickered on, which I thought was a strange thing to do for an attacker. Personally, I would rather remain hidden, just to minimize the evidence.
But when the room was illuminated enough, I could finally recognize who was watching me and it was probably the last person I expected.

"Mother?"

"Oh, don't sound too delighted," she retorted, stepping closer to the bed.

I had not seen her in at least two years and she had never even attempted to contact me. Neither had I. Writing to me that I was no longer part of her family had been clear enough for me, thank you very much. I had always assumed with Evan being their golden boy, that she did not miss me much. If I thought about it, I had not missed her much. I had missed the notion of family and security more than any actual person.

"You always taught me not to sneak up on people," I said.

"I taught you a lot of things that you disregard," she said. Her words did hold some truth, but then again, she had taught me a lot of things that were reprehensible and I thought myself quite lucky being able to disregard them. I did not bother to tell her that. It was no fight I could win and I knew to pick my battles.

"What do you want?" I asked instead.

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Evan told me about your accident," she said. "I was worried you might be seriously hurt."

"Evan?" I scoffed. "He couldn't care less about me, in fact, he tried to kill me numerous times."

"Don't talk bad about your brother-"

"My brother's a bloody Death Eater!" I snapped back at her and she shut her mouth at once in surprise. "I don't have any kind words to say about him."

She looked down while I cared at her. She probably had thought this was going to go differently. I could not imagine why she would think so, but she clearly had.
The greatest irony, of course, was that Evan had reported to her that I had gotten injured. I wondered if he had sounded happy and I wondered what she had answered. To give her at least that, she seemed a bit worried.

"Your brother's our pride and joy," my mother said tightly.

"You don't have much choice," I bit back. "Since you disinherited me."

Her eyes narrowed at me. "You brought this on yourself," she said.

I laughed, and my body jerked again with the pain. Maybe I should have remembered that I still was recovering from serious injuries before I decided to try and mock my mother with sarcastic laughter. "Ugh," I made. "This I didn't bring it on myself. This was Lestrange."

"You made such a cute couple," she said.

"He assaulted me," I shot back angrily. Rabastan Lestrange was the last person I wanted to be a cute couple with. In fact, I could not quite believe that she was suggesting such a thing after everything I had been through.

"You never had the best taste in men," she answered calmly. "Just look at Reg-"

"Reg was a good man!" I said at once. "By my standards, of course, and not by yours."

She huffed but did not reply to my implied accusation. Instead, she kept awfully quiet but sat down on a chair next to the bed. I did not quite know what to make of it. In all honesty, I had never thought to see her again and consequently had no idea what to say to her. There was nothing I wanted to say to her. In fact, after what we had just hauled at each other, I felt there was nothing left to be said.
Sirius would have a fit when he found out she was here. Hopefully, she would be gone came morning. Hopefully, she would be gone much sooner than that.

"It is not too late, you know," she said finally.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Too late for what?" I asked.

"To come back," she urged, leaning forward in her chair. "Selene, I am pleading with you, as your mother, be reasonable and come back-"

"Oh," I said. "It is definitely too late."

"Sweetie-"

Despite the pain it caused in my back, I squared my shoulders. This was getting absolutely ridiculous. She could not really think that I would return home.
"Sirius and I are going to marry," I told her and she paled visibly. "We're happy. And even if I was doing bad, I wouldn't return."

"Why?" she breathed.

"Because walking away from you was the right thing to do and it was the best decision I ever made," I told her.

My mother seemed about ready to cry. I had never seen her like this, so close to losing her composure. She seemed genuinely sad. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. Not nearly enough to make me reconsider, though to be honest, there was nothing she could say would make me reconsider.

"Fine," she said shakily before she got up at last. "If my daughter has to be a traitor, I shall be glad that at least she's happy."

"Right," I retorted. "Tell that to Evan, will you?"

It was meant as no more than a jab, but she smiled slightly at me in response. "I will," she said.
She was gone with a distinct 'plop'. Her departure let the room sink into darkness again and it let me wonder if this had really happened or if I had just dreamed the whole thing.

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