A/N: I'll have chapters 53 and 54 up on March 13th and then we should be back to Saturday updates again. :)
Sirius:
Sirius kissed Marlene once more before sliding out of her covers.
"I mean this in the best way," she pulled the covers up around her slender form, "but I don't want you to recover fully."
He smirked; part of him agreed with her. He'd spent more nights in her bed than his own, and he could only do that because Elias was covering for him right now. Once he could resume his post, Sirius would be bound to remain with James, just as Marlene remained with Lily.
"We'll just have to get them married. Then they'll be in the same room which solves all our problems." Sirius went back to the bed to kiss her. Just one more, he thought.
"Then go tell James to get his act together," Marlene whispered as he pulled back.
"Gladly," he stole one more kiss before seeing himself out and heading for James.
He stepped quietly back into the rooms he shared with James. They were the same rooms James had been in when Sirius ran away from Knockturn. James had refused to move into his parents' rooms after they passed, and Sirius had been relieved. He'd adopted Mia and Monty as his own, and it hurt too much to be in their rooms, to see Monty's favorite chair, to notice how Mia had left her mahogany comb out on the table next to the window. The pain is why James did everything he could to keep Elias and Ruth at the castle. The two were essentially uncle and aunt to James, and their presence helped put Sirius at ease as well. It didn't fill the hole in his heart, but it did help him feel less alone.
Speaking of his teachers, Elias sat on the edge of his cot with his arms crossed as he faced the door.
"Good morning, my friend," Sirius found that the best way to handle Elias was to smile. It was a trick he'd learned from Ruth. She managed to get the man to do almost anything by smiling.
"Don't smile at me," Elias huffed, "you're not getting out of this."
"I'm not trying to get out of anything," Sirius shut the door behind him.
"Where are you going every night?"
"I'm not going anywhere every night, my friend. I slept here last night." Sirius kept an easy smile on his face.
"Don't play games with me," Elias stood. "You're spending entire nights Merlin knows where and then sneaking back in just as the sun rises. You have a responsibility, Sirius!"
"I'm well aware, old friend," Sirius growled. "I've shed more blood because of that responsibility than I ever wanted to. Believe me, I'm very aware of what my oath requires. But as I'm not currently fit for the job, I'm doing my best to help my sovereign in other ways. Trust me, the moment Remus declares me fully fit to protect James, I'll be his shadow."
"How are you helping him then?" Elias' tone had softened by a fraction and Sirius let a long breath out.
"I'm working to make sure he fixes things with Her Highness. They were very happy together before rank and station became involved. I'm working to get them back on track."
Elias studied him for a long moment and Sirius resisted the urge to growl again.
"I'm going to talk to Ruth about this."
Sirius almost laughed but managed an easy smile instead.
"That's a brilliant idea, she'll talk some sense into you. Now if you'll excuse me, James needs some sense verbally beaten into his thick skull."
Sirius didn't wait for Elias' reply. He strode purposefully into his own room and then into James'.
"Rise and shine, your stupidness."
James groaned. "Is that even a word?"
"You can decree it a word if it isn't." Sirius huffed. "I had the most interesting conversation last night with your betrothed bride."
James shot upright. "You were with Lily last night?"
"Yes, she and Marlene sent for me because the idiot who's trying to win over his bride hasn't managed to arrange any time alone with said bride."
James rubbed a tired hand over his face. "I know, I keep meaning to make that happen, I just missed so much while we were traveling and I'm still not caught up."
"James," Sirius cut him off, "your kingdom is going to be stuck to you for the rest of your life. But you're treading dangerously close to losing Lily. She's here to figure out if she loves you, and if you love her. Prove it to her, James. Or stop wasting her time and give some other nobleman a shot at making her happy."
James jumped from the bed and stomped right up to Sirius' face. "If you think for one minute that any other nobleman could make her half as happy as I can you've got another thing coming!"
Sirius grinned. He loved getting his way, especially when it included a rise out of James.
"Good," he put his hand on James' shoulder, "Now give the poor girl your time. For some strange reason, she misses you."
James blinked and then chuckled. "I'll talk to Elias. It sounds like Marlene is on board?"
Sirius nodded, "She won't give you any argument. I, however, am going to give Remus a real argument."
"He's only trying to do what's best for you." James grinned as Sirius moved to the door.
"Yes, and I'm going to do what's best for him. Next week I will resume my post, with or without his fancy Healer's stamp of approval."
Sirius nodded to Elias on his way out to go pick his battle with Remus. Today had already been a very productive day, and he wasn't going to stop the momentum until he had everything where he wanted it.
