Hello all of my wonderful readers!
Just a quick news update for you. I'm going to be making a chapter schedule, as I feel like my posting is too sporadic at the moment. So there will for sure be a chapter out every Monday (I repeat- every Monday!). Something, hopefully positive, to start your week out with. The chapters that are a tad shorter than usual will get an extra update throughout the week. I'll let you know when that is going to be.
Happy Thanksgiving week to everyone! If you aren't from the United States, I still wish you a happy thanksgiving week and I hope you all have a great one!
As always, read, review, and enjoy!
Christmas of 1979 was quickly coming up on us and, with the sudden news of two of my best friends having babies, I found myself becoming increasingly jealous of their budding little families. Both happily married to the loves of their life, both now pregnant with their first child, both due at the end of July.
I finally confided in Remus about it while he visited me at the bar one day, mixing up a hot chocolate with mint liquor for him. He smiled lightly at me, saying that all these feelings were normal. Sirius loved me, he really loved me, Remus reminded me, but that didn't mean his fears of commitment or having a family were completely abolished.
"Just have some patience with him," he said, taking a small sip of the hot chocolate mix, "I know he can be...difficult and strong-willed, but he has his heart in the right places. Sirius doesn't make rash decisions, he'll do the right thing by you."
"Eventually," I said with an eye roll and a small smile. I was glad Remus had made a habit of stopping by the pub every few days. He and I had become quite close since graduating from Hogwarts. He was the one person I could talk to without judgment, the one person who had a first seat look at how Sirius's brain worked. Though, most of the time it was guess work anyways.
The most surprising thing about that particular holiday season was the letter I received a mere week before Christmas. The owl tapping on the window was enough to make me jump, but my eyebrows shot sky high when I opened the envelope it handed to me.
"It's from my mother," I had told Sirius when he came home from school that evening. He furrowed his brow, looking at me in confusion as he picked the letter up from the dining room table. "Asking if we want to have Christmas dinner with the rest of my family." Sirius's own eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline at my words. "I kind of thought we could go," I continued on, "it's been awhile since we've seen my family and, you never know, maybe my father has lightened up a bit."
Sirius snorted humorlessly before sighing. "I don't know, Hals. The last time we had dinner there was pretty rough." He looked up at me after reading the letter, his gray eyes piercing through my brown ones. An involuntary shiver went up my spine. "We both know the probability of your father having lightened up a bit is quite slim." I turned around, kneeling on the couch cushions and resting my elbows on the back. I stuck out my lower lip in a fake pout. "Really? You really want to do this?" I smiled slowly, nodding my head. "Okay, okay. We will go to your parents for dinner-"
I leapt off the couch, swinging around the living room as I threw my arms around his neck. He took a deep breath, inhaling the vanilla scented shampoo I had just washed with earlier that day. He pulled away from me, cupping my cheeks gently. "And it's only because I love you. But if they start to act up-" He took his wand out of his pocket, waving it around menacingly as he sent me a playful wink. I let out a laugh, knowing exactly where he was going with it.
This is how we ended up standing outside of my parent's house a few days before Christmas. We both stared at the front door, neither of us wanting to be the one to ring the doorbell.
Though the outside of the house looked beautiful- the Christmas tree neatly decorated in lights and bows, shining brightly out of the large front window that overlooked the parlor room, the snow falling lightly onto the front lawn, creating an almost mystical portrait of the home I had grown up in- I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that this wasn't going to go as I had planned.
Sirius took a deep breath, acting as though he was going to take one for the team and ring the doorbell, when he gently pushed he forward. I stumbled onto the porch, the wooden panels creaking beneath my boots. I turned around, glaring at him as he sent me an angelic smirk. I shook my head, padding forward to push the large, white bell that I knew would ring throughout the house. It clanged loudly, echoing through the foyer and into the dining room. It was a sound I was quite familiar with, as Ralph Brams was one to have company as often as possible.
The door opened, revealing my mother looking pristine in a red sweater dress and black heels. Her hair was piled on her head in a bun that even a ballerina would envy. Her smile was warm and inviting, though, as she took a step back from the threshold, gesturing for us to come in. "It is so nice to see you two," she exclaimed as she took my coat, hanging it on the coat rack near the wall. She pulled me into a tight embrace, wrapping her arms around my waist. I returned the hug cautiously, surprised to say the least, as she had never been one to be openly affectionate with her children. "Sirius, darling, come on in. Let me take your coat. Both of you look wonderful this evening."
"Thank you, ma'am," Sirius replied politely, his roots of a proper upbringing coming out instinctively. My mother took his coat, hanging it on the coat rack next to mine.
"Your father and your brother are already here," she went on, leading us from the foyer and into the dining room, "dinner should be ready in just a few minutes."
I timidly entered the dining room, not quite sure if it was such a great idea for us to come for Christmas dinner anymore. I hadn't talked to my father since the last time I had seen him, where Sirius left unexpectedly and my mother had to raise her voice for the first time that I could remember. I glanced around the room, remembering how my mother used to make breakfast for us before our first day of school every year. Now, it was adorned with soft gold decorations, thick ribbons and garland strung across the walls. Off white candles flickered a few feet above our heads, floating directly over the table. I dragged my eyes back down, interlocking my gaze with my father's.
"Hello, dad," I said quietly, a smile appearing nervously on my lips. He didn't return the gesture, merely held out his hand and directed us toward the dinner table. My heart leapt into my throat, beating forcefully against my chest. Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I tightened my lips together and took a seat next to my brother, Daniel. His blonde hair was slicked back and he was dressed in expensive robes.
"Haley," he said shortly, nodding toward me, "Sirius."
Sirius took a seat next to me, his shaggy, black hair flopping over his shoulder. I took a moment to glance at him as he murmured a quick "Daniel." It was clear he was uncomfortable, the decision to drag us to my family Christmas dinner flit through my mind. Though Sirius nodded politely toward my father and brother, as a first class citizen in the wizarding world was raised to do, there was a tenseness in his gray eyes that was almost threatening. As I raked my gaze over to my father, I could tell that he sensed it too.
"Dinner is ready!" my mother sang out as she clicked her heels into the dining room. The food flew in behind her, settling on the hot pads that were littered across the dining room table. She took a seat next to my father, squeezing his hand encouragingly, before ordering for us all to dig in. Sirius and I didn't miss a beat. The faster we could get done eating, the faster we could get out of there. It wasn't until I reached my hand toward the potatoes and another small, manicured hand touched mine that I realized there was another person at the table.
I leaned forward, glancing around my brother to see a stunningly beautiful woman sitting next to him. From her manicured nails to her straight, brown hair cascading down her back, there was not a single thing out of place on her person. Her dark blue eyes narrowed at me as she slightly pushed my hand out of the way, reaching for the potato spoon first. In my sudden daze, I hadn't even realized she did it.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Daniel put down his fork and knife, wiping the corners of his mouth with the napkin he had placed in his lap, "this is Bethany, my girlfriend. She is a healer at St. Mungo's."
It took me a moment to recover from the shock of my brother introducing a woman as his girlfriend. I leaned forward again, turning my gaping jaw into a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you I'm-"
"I know who you are," she said shortly, her narrowed eyes boring holes into my own.
"Haley Brams, bartender extraordinaire." She paused, leaning forward to look past me. "I just don't know who YOU are."
I turned over my shoulder to see Sirius staring at her, his eyes burning with anger. It seemed that Bethany couldn't pick up on physical cues, however, as she continued make sappy eyes at Sirius. A burning flame of jealousy shot up my spine at the thought of her trying to come onto my boyfriend…in front of me…at dinner with my family. She was the epitome of perfection and it was not news to me that Sirius had only gotten better looking with age, between his stormy gray eyes and black, shaggy hair. His looks compared to mine were something that I had to come to terms with on my own, especially since girls seemed to be flabbergasted that he would waste them on such the likes of me. Even to this day.
Luckily for me, Sirius never once laid eyes on any of these girls, always keeping them firmly locked with my own. "I love YOU," he would say when my jealousy got the best of me at times, "I love YOU and only YOU."
Bethany gazed expectantly at him, cocking her head to the side in a manner that I imagined was her way of flirting. My brother had hardly picked up on it, though my mother had her eye's widened with astonishment. Sirius chewed his chicken slowly, his eyes challenging, before swallowing and replying with a very short, "Sirius Black." Her smirk grew wicked, not quite reaching her eyes, as she sensed the challenge he presented and accepted it willingly. "Bethany Crewe," she said slyly, holding her hand over my brother and me in an effort to shake his. He turned back to his food, ignoring her completely. She recovered quickly, though, recoiling her hand and attempting to continue the conversation.
"What do you do, Sirius Black?" she asked as she cut her chicken into cube sized pieces, pushing them around her plate. I glanced down at my own, already on my second piece of chicken and halfway through a batch of mashed potatoes. "For work, I mean."
Poor Sirius, clearly toeing the line between wanting to be polite and wanting to curse her into oblivion, decided to go with the polite route. "I'm in auror school, graduating in May."
"Auror school!" she exclaimed with fake enthusiasm, "my, that is wonderful. So great to have such brave men, such as yourself, to put yourself in that job field. Especially with this horrible war going on."
Sirius must have caught me taking my wand out of my pocket and pointing at her under the table from the corner of his eye, as he reached down and held onto my wrist, squeezing it slightly. I relaxed at his touch, peering up at him. He didn't bat an eyelash, though I could see a smirk growing on his lips at my gaze.
"Bethany and Daniel met while she was doing a tour through the Ministry," my father interjected in his effort to steer the conversation clear from the war, "Daniel heads the funding for research at St. Mungo's through the Ministry and Bethany is doing a study on the effects of mandrakes on dragon pox. A potentially ground-breaking and inexpensive way to substitute instead of unicorn blood." He paused to take a bite of his dinner. "It's amazing the places you go in life when you surround yourself with smart and powerful people." He glared pointedly at me.
It was my turn to reach down and grab onto Sirius's wrist as he pointed his wand toward my father underneath the table.
I smiled humorlessly at him, nodding in agreement. "Yes, it is amazing how far you get in life when you scope out who to sleep with, isn't it, Bethany?"
Daniel and Sirius both choked on their dinners, Sirius needing to pound himself on the chest after inhaling a particularly large piece of carrot. My father's face turned a brilliant shade of violet, his hands shaking in anger at my comment.
"You will apologize this instant," he growled, glaring at me with a menacing stare, "you have no right to throw such shameful accusations about. Especially after whoring yourself out to a Black, completely ruining your reputation and family name, and throwing away any chance you had of a successful future."
I stood out of my seat, my wand pointed directly at my father. I was shaking in anger, waves of disbelief crashing through my body. "I will never be able to understand why I looked up to you when I was younger," I said coolly as he eyed my wand with quiet apprehension, "you are mean and spiteful. You have no regard for your children's happiness, only what kind of personal gain you could get out of our careers or relationships. If all of those things are how you represent the family name, then I don't want anything to do with it anymore."
"You better lower your wand, girl," he retorted steadily, pushing himself out of his seat and leaning over the table. "If you threaten me in my own home-"
I felt a gentle hand grab my wrist, softly lowering it down to my side. I recognized Sirius's touch. He took a deep breath next to me. "It seems we have overstayed our very short welcome," he said slowly, looking between my father and I, "Mrs .Brams, a pleasure as always." He placed a hand on my lower back, guiding me toward the foyer. "Oh, there's one more thing." He turned back toward my father, throwing two jinxes at him so fast that I would have missed it if I blinked. Daniel shot out of his seat, falling onto the marble floor as Bethany and my mother screamed.
Before I knew it, my father was dangling upside down, as if hanging by an ankle from the ceiling. He opened his mouth to yell, but only rainbow colored bubbles flew from his mouth. I let out an astonished laugh, completely in shock that Sirius had just cursed my father. He sauntered over to him, kneeling down so he was eye level with the upside down man. "That was for treating your daughter, the love of my life, like shit. You should be proud of the person she has become, despite the fact you clearly disapprove of her choice to be with me." He stood from his position, straightening out his long, muscular legs. "There's no point in trying to get him down," he mentioned to the other three people, who were still staring at Sirius with slack jaws, "he'll come crashing down when he's ready."
Sirius walked calmly back over to me, kissing me passionately on the lips before grabbing my hand and apparating us back to the apartment. I stumbled away from him as we hit the kitchen floor, but he hooked a finger through my belt loop, stabilizing me and pulling me closer to him. He kissed me again, slower this time. There was a heat that formed in the pit of my stomach, smoldering as he licked my lip, begging for permission. I gave it willingly, our tongues dancing wildly together for what could have been years. All I knew was I didn't want it to stop.
He backed away from me, reaching into the back pocket of his jeans, pulling out a small box. My breath hitched in my throat as he grabbed onto one of my hands, lowering slowly to one knee. I clapped another hand over my mouth, tears forming in my eyes as he looked up at me with a smile.
"Haley Brams, I've been carrying this ring around, waiting for the perfect time to ask you," he started slowly, squeezing my hand, "I was going to ask on Christmas, but after you told your father you didn't want anything to do with the Bram name, I came up with a quick solution." He popped open the small box, revealing a bright, diamond ring. I gasped loudly, my hand still on my mouth muffling the sound. "I hope you can settle for taking my last name, Haley, because there is nothing in this world that could make me a happier man than spending the rest of my life chasing you. Would you do me the honor of marrying me?"
I merely nodded, my body and thoughts numb at what had just happened. I knew Sirius was thinking about marriage, hell he had even TOLD me he was thinking about it. But in no way, shape, or form did I realize it was this soon. In no way could I have imagined he was carrying the ring around with him, waiting for the perfect moment. He put the ring on my left ring finger, luckily he was able to pull away just a little bit, as I jumped on him, knocking him to the wooden floor with a shout of happiness.
Our lips locked, my hands winding beneath his shirt, feeling every muscle contract with my touch as I pulled it off, tossing it casually across the room. We hardly came up for air the rest of the night, stopping the meeting of our bodies merely to tangle ourselves into the sheets of the bed we were going to share…for the rest of our lives.
